8 killed, 95 injured as US hits Iran's tallest bridge

There was little sign on Friday of the war in West Asia winding down as Iran said eight people were killed while celebrating the close of Persian New Year near a major bridge hit by a US strike.

Iran decried the strike on its tallest bridge, which also injured 95 people celebrating Nowruz Day, when Iranians gather for picnics and other celebrations outdoors on the last day of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

“Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote Thursday in a post on X.

Meanwhile, Israel said it faced incoming fire from Iran while Kuwait and Bahrain reported being under attack.

Tehran continued to demonstrate its ability to strike its neighbours even as US President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated and cheered the collapse of the bridge on Thursday, reportedly the tallest in the Middle East.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf states, along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.

Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force - but said it is not up to the US to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

Before the US and Israel started the war on February 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.