Fighting between the United States and Iran has intensified, with the American military expanding its strikes to targets deeper inside Iran while Tehran launches wider attacks across the Persian Gulf.

The confrontation remains centered on control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for global oil supplies. However, the latest military actions have raised fears that the crisis could develop into a broader war, despite indications that neither side wants a prolonged conflict.

The United States has targeted bridges, surveillance systems, coastal radar installations, air-defense equipment, small boats, and missile and drone storage facilities. The strikes are intended to weaken Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and disrupt shipping in the Gulf.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington had also begun moving fighter jets from Europe to the Middle East as part of an expanded military operation aimed at pressuring Tehran to stop its attacks on Gulf shipping.

More than 2,000 Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are also operating in the region after previously being deployed in the Pacific. The US military released images showing Marines boarding and searching a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman as Washington intensified enforcement of its blockade against Iranian ports.

The latest strikes marked the seventh consecutive day of US military operations against Iranian targets, representing the most serious escalation since a preliminary agreement between the two countries was reached in June.

US Central Command said the strikes were designed to continue weakening Iran’s military capabilities.

Several bridges in and around the southern port city of Bandar Abbas were reportedly hit during overnight strikes on Thursday. Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB, said major roads linking the city with neighbouring provinces were subsequently closed.

Bandar Abbas is strategically important because its port handles an estimated 90 percent of Iran’s container traffic. US officials also accuse Iran of using military facilities in the area to coordinate attacks against commercial vessels.

The American military has repeatedly targeted Chabahar, Iran’s only deep-water ocean port, located more than 350 miles east of the Strait of Hormuz near the Pakistani border.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth published an image showing the collapse of a maritime communications tower in Chabahar following an American strike.

Iranian authorities confirmed that the facility had been hit but maintained that it was used for civilian purposes, including search-and-rescue operations for fishermen. However, Chris Long, a former British naval officer who served in the Persian Gulf, said the tower could also have functioned as an intelligence and observation post.

Iran has responded to the US offensive with broader and more deadly attacks across the Gulf. The escalation followed the collapse of an agreement that was expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed about a month earlier, traffic through the strait was expected to resume. However, the deal broke down after Iran launched fresh attacks on vessels participating in a US-supported shipping operation along the coast of Oman.

Tehran reportedly believes the agreement gives it the authority to manage traffic through the waterway and wants vessels to use a northern route closer to the Iranian coastline.

The escalation has already affected global energy markets, with oil prices rising by more than 10% this week. A prolonged conflict could push prices higher and further pressure the global economy.

Saeid Golkar, an expert on Iran’s security services and a lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, warned that the confrontation could become difficult to contain.

“This escalation is rapidly intensifying and getting out of control,” Golkar said. “There is a risk we will go back to a total war even if neither side wants it.”

Both Washington and Tehran have reasons to avoid a full-scale conflict. Iran is facing major reconstruction challenges and growing public dissatisfaction, while US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed concern about the economic consequences of rising oil prices.

However, analysts warn that efforts by both sides to gain military and diplomatic leverage could lead to an escalation beyond their control.

“We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labour very, very shortly,” Trump said during a televised address on Thursday night.