Iran has for the first time directly attacked a country that has so far avoided conflict.

Iran launched direct attacks on a country that had previously avoided conflict, marking a new escalation in tensions with the United States. On Friday, Iran reportedly targeted American facilities in the Middle East, including its first direct strike on Syria, following six consecutive nights of U.S. attacks on Iranian military sites. The fragile ceasefire reached last month has unraveled into daily exchanges of strikes and counterstrikes, nearly halting maritime traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz and reigniting concerns among investors over the economic consequences of the war initiated by the U.S. and Israel in February. The U.S. military stated it had completed another night of attacks on Iran “to further weaken Iranian military capabilities,” targeting locations on the island of Kish and near Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port, along with key naval and Revolutionary Guard assets. According to a statement from the U.S. Central Command, American forces, including combat aircraft, drone systems, and naval vessels, launched precision munitions striking dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance positions, air defense installations, military logistics infrastructure, and naval capacities. Iran claims this marks its first direct attack on Syria, which had sought to avoid entanglement in a conflict engulfing neighboring countries. A civilian was killed in an American strike on the area of Pasabandar near the southern port city of Chabahar, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim. Iran fired projectiles and drones at U.S. military bases in neighboring countries, including an air base in Jordan. In early morning on Friday, the Iranian military announced attacks on U.S. facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. In the Qatari capital, Doha, witnesses reported several sounds resembling explosions, and the Ministry of Interior stated a child had been injured by shrapnel. Iranian media reported that five bridges were hit during the latest round of U.S. strikes, along with a railway station in the coastal city of Bandar Hamir and the airport of Iranshahr in southeastern Iran. Seven people were killed in U.S. attacks on bridges in Bandar Hamir, a southern port city in Iran, according to the state news agency IRNA. Iranian state media reported that the Revolutionary Guard attacked an American special operations command center in Al-Tanf in Syria as retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr. Reuters could not immediately confirm these reports. This represents the first direct Iranian attack on Syria, which had attempted to avoid involvement in a conflict affecting neighboring states. In Lebanon, Hezbollah fighters supported by Iran have clashed with Israeli forces, while armed groups backed by Iran in Iraq have carried out drone and rocket attacks. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed to have targeted and destroyed a naval radar system on the islands of Salameh and an American air traffic control radar in the area of Ganem in Oman, according to Iranian state media. The renewed escalation has almost completely halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most crucial maritime route for oil and gas transportation, raising oil prices and once again causing concern over inflationary impacts. Tehran has reinstated a blockade of the strait, while Washington has blocked Iranian ports since Wednesday. Sources told Reuters that Iran signaled it might encourage its Houthi allies in Yemen to close another critical maritime passage, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea, if Washington continues attacking Iranian infrastructure. Iran recently attacked ships traveling through the safe corridor of the Strait of Hormuz. White House spokesperson Karine Leavitt said on Thursday that President Donald Trump would not “sit with his hands crossed and allow such terrorist acts to continue in the strait without Iran facing consequences,” according to Reuters. She added, however, that the president remained “open to diplomacy” at all times. Iranian sources indicated that Tehran’s goal is to establish control over the strait, but they are not inclined toward further escalation that could lead to wider conflict.