A banner in downtown Tehran asks in a foreign language who will be next, using the American president's initials like a scalpel. Beneath it, an Iranian flag waves while 2 women at the city's bazaar flash the victory sign toward the camera, as if it were a holiday instead of the sixth straight night of American airstrikes. These images from Tehran reveal more about the state of this war than any Pentagon press conference ever could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the night into Friday, the U.S. military expanded its attacks, striking several bridges in Iran's Hormozgan Province near the coastal city of Bandar Khamir. According to Iranian state television, at least 7 people were killed. The road and rail bridges were apparently targeted to cut Bandar Abbas, Iran's most important port, off from transportation routes leading inland and toward Tehran. At the same time, an American strike brought down a surveillance tower at the port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, a vital trade route for neighboring Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally shared the image of the collapsing tower, a photo that had already been circulating among activists, apparently intending to showcase American control over the Strait. Iran described the tower as a monitoring facility for civilian shipping, but our investigation found that the Revolutionary Guard also operates its own bases inside the country's ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n