Iran warns of regional infrastructure strikes if US attacks

Iran has issued a stark warning that it will target infrastructure across the Middle East if the United States attacks its own critical facilities, as military strikes between the two nations continued for a fifth consecutive day. The threat, delivered by multiple senior Iranian military officials on July 16 and 17, escalates an already volatile conflict centered on control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, stated on state television that any attack on Iran's infrastructure would trigger broad retaliation. "If our infrastructure is attacked, all infrastructure in the region will become our targets," he said on July 16. He blamed U.S. military presence for regional instability and reiterated that Iran would never allow foreign intervention in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil shipping lane.

The warnings follow repeated statements from U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to expand American airstrikes to include Iranian civilian infrastructure, specifically bridges and power plants, unless Tehran agrees to U.S. terms for ending hostilities and reopening the strait. U.S....