U.S. Expands Iran Air Campaign with Bridge Strikes to Disrupt Iranian Military Logistics.

The United States struck bridges and transportation links in Iran’s Hormozgan province on July 16, widening its air campaign to disrupt military supply routes serving Bandar Abbas. The shift places Iran’s fixed logistics network under direct pressure as Washington seeks to weaken Tehran’s ability to sustain naval and missile operations around the Strait of Hormuz.

The attacks marked the sixth consecutive night of U.S. strikes and expanded the target set beyond coastal radars, missile positions and air defense systems. By hitting bridges near Bandar-e Khamir and west of Bandar Abbas, U.S. forces moved against the roads and transport nodes used to move personnel, weapons and supplies toward Iran’s principal naval hub on the strait.

Related News: US disables oil tanker M/T Belma with Hellfire missiles near Kharg Island as Iran naval blockade resumes

An F/A-18F Super Hornet from VFA-41 launches from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during Operation Epic Fury. (Picture source: US DoD)

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and warships employed precision-guided munitions against dozens of targets, including coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities. CENTCOM did not identify the bridges in its official release, but a senior U.S. official cited by The Wall Street Journal said the strikes were intended to cut supply routes leading to the port city and naval base at Bandar Abbas, which supports Iranian operations around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state and semi-official media reported that five bridges in southern Iran were hit during the latest wave. The reported targets included the Kehvarstan bridge across the Shur River and road and rail links near Bandar Khamir, west of Bandar Abbas. Traffic on the Bandar Abbas-Kehvarstan-Lar corridor was suspended, while additional highways connecting Bandar Abbas with neighboring provinces were reportedly closed. Iranian authorities said at least seven people were killed in the strikes on Bandar Khamir, although the figures and the precise extent of the damage have not been independently verified.

The geography of the strikes is operationally important. Bandar Abbas is both Iran's principal commercial port and a central base for the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. The surrounding road and rail network carries fuel, ammunition, spare parts, personnel and potentially mobile missile and drone systems from Iran's interior toward the coast. Disabling selected bridges can therefore create transport bottlenecks, force military convoys onto longer and more exposed routes and slow the regeneration of coastal units already affected by repeated U.S. attacks.

Bridge strikes are particularly relevant against a logistics network dependent on a limited number of crossings through the mountainous terrain north and west of Bandar Abbas. Unlike attacks on individual launchers or patrol craft, damage to transport infrastructure can have a persistent effect across several military functions at once. It may complicate the resupply of naval bases, the movement of coastal defense batteries, and the repair of radar or communications sites. However, the strikes do not appear to have completely isolated Bandar Abbas, as alternative routes remain available and Iran retains the capacity to conduct repairs or establish temporary crossings.

The attacks also show a shift in the U.S. targeting logic. Earlier waves focused primarily on the systems directly involved in Iran's maritime denial network, including coastal surveillance radars, command centers, air defenses, cruise missile storage and launch sites, drone infrastructure, and fast attack craft. By adding bridges and other logistics infrastructure, U.S. forces are now targeting the connective layer that sustains these capabilities. The objective appears to be not only to destroy weapons but also to slow the movement, reinforcement and reconstitution of Iranian forces along the Strait of Hormuz.

The same strike sequence reportedly extended eastward to Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, where an air strike brought down a surveillance tower at the port. Iranian authorities described the structure as supporting commercial traffic, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also maintains a presence across Iran's port network. The targeting of facilities in both Bandar Abbas and Chabahar indicates an effort to degrade Iranian observation and logistics capacity across the approaches to the Persian Gulf rather than around a single naval base.

The air campaign is being conducted alongside the renewed U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. CENTCOM said the blockade resumed on July 14 and subsequently reported redirecting compliant commercial vessels and disabling the Curacao-flagged tanker M/T Belma after it continued toward Kharg Island despite warnings. This combination of interdiction at sea and attacks on transport links ashore is designed to place simultaneous pressure on Iran's maritime exports, coastal defenses and ability to sustain forces near the strait.

The strikes follow renewed attacks on commercial shipping and the collapse of the interim ceasefire agreed in June. Washington says its operations are intended to reduce Iran's ability to threaten merchant vessels, while Tehran has responded with missile and drone attacks against U.S. forces and regional partners. More than 50,000 U.S. military personnel are currently operating across the Middle East, according to CENTCOM, underlining the scale of the force posture supporting the campaign.

Targeting bridges around Bandar Abbas raises the operational cost for Iran without guaranteeing that its coastal network will be severed. The immediate effect will depend on the severity of structural damage, the availability of bypass routes, and the speed of Iranian engineering repairs. Strategically, however, the attacks indicate that the U.S. campaign is moving beyond the suppression of individual launch sites toward the systematic disruption of the logistics architecture that allows Iran to maintain military pressure on the Strait of Hormuz.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in Security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.