The United States has bombed bridges and energy infrastructure in the seventh straight night of attacks on Iran, cutting off water supplies to towns in the country’s southern Hormuzgan province.
Officials in Hormuzgan said one strike destroyed water distribution infrastructure that served several communities, leaving residents without drinking water as summer temperatures in the region routinely exceed 45 degrees Celsius. The managing director of the Hormuzgan Water and Wastewater Company said two concrete reservoirs, with capacities of 500 and 2,000 cubic meters, along with their mechanical equipment, were demolished in the strikes.
“The enemy has precisely targeted the infrastructure linked to the daily livelihood and health of the people,” he said, describing the act as “flagrant terrorism.”
The strikes are part of a campaign that has now run for seven consecutive nights. US Central Command said the attacks were designed to “further degrade Iranian military capabilities.” But the targets have included bridges around Bandar Abbas, the main IRGC operations center near the Strait of Hormuz, and the transport links that carry ammunition, fuel, and reinforcements to Iranian forces along the coast.
Iran has responded each night with missile and drone attacks on American bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraq. A US official said there has been no significant damage from the retaliatory strikes, but the exchange of fire shows no sign of slowing.
The seventh night of strikes follows a pattern established after the collapse of a temporary ceasefire that had briefly raised hopes of a diplomatic resolution. The ceasefire dissolved last week, and both sides have returned to full-scale hostilities.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the destruction of water infrastructure as a violation of international law. “This is not collateral damage — it is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghei said after earlier strikes on water facilities in June left more than 20,000 people without drinking water in Hormuzgan province. The Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.
The water cuts come at the worst possible time. Southern Iran is in the middle of summer, with temperatures that make life without running water dangerous. Villages in the affected areas lack sufficient groundwater reserves to compensate for the loss of the reservoirs. Mobile water tankers have been deployed as an emergency measure, but officials warned that fully restoring the destroyed pumping and storage systems will require “time and extensive technical actions.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is weighing whether to expand the campaign further. Options presented to the president this week include strikes on Iranian power plants, additional attacks on nuclear facilities, and bombing the underground site at Pickaxe Mountain. A decision could come within days.