WASHINGTON/TEHRAN – At least seven people were killed and 16 others were wounded Thursday night in a new wave of US strikes on bridges and residential areas in southern Iran, local media reported.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that the death toll has risen to seven from the US attack on the Bandar-e Khamir bridge in Hormozgan province. The attack also left nine people injured, who are currently receiving treatment from emergency services and medical staff.

In addition, a US strike against a residential area, named Allaho Akbar, in the port city of Bandar Abbas left seven people wounded, the IRIB reported, adding a telecommunications tower was also targeted in the city.

The IRIB also reported six consecutive explosions near Hamidiyeh County in the southwestern Khuzestan province, as well as three explosions near an airport in Iranshahr County in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province. At least one US projectile hit the airport, it added.

Earlier, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported US strikes hitting Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Ahvaz, and Bushehr in southern Iran on Thursday night.

The US Central Command said on X that the US forces have completed their latest round of airstrikes targeting Iran, the sixth consecutive night of strikes, at 9:40 pm ET (0140 GMT) on Thursday.

US forces, including fighter jets, aerial drones, and warships, launched precision munitions that hit dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities, it said.

CENTCOM is further degrading Iranian military capabilities and holding Iran accountable for recent attacks on commercial shipping, it said, adding that more than 50,000 US service members are operating across the Middle East and "remain vigilant, lethal, and ready".

The developments followed days of clashes between Iran and the United States, despite a peace memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries in mid-June, under which they were expected to begin negotiations within 60 days toward a final agreement.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States would expand its strikes on Iran to target power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran agrees to negotiate.

Trump told Fox that his representatives had been in contact with Iranian officials recently. When asked what message was delivered to Iran, Trump said: "You better make a deal. You're not going to have anything left."

Despite the renewed hostilities, the White House said on Thursday that talks between the United States and Iran were ongoing.

"We're talking to them. But again, the President is not going to allow them to fire on ships in the strait without paying a consequence for that," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a press conference.

Commercial vessels try to breach US blockade

Meanwhile, the Central Command said on X that US forces intercepted three commercial vessels attempting to breach the US naval blockade against Iran, after resuming blocking maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on Tuesday.

The Central Command said US forces redirected the three vessels, disabled one that failed to comply, and boarded another "to ensure full compliance with the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran".

"The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America's steel wall blockade," CENTCOM said.

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Iran warns of 'crushing' regional infrastructure

In another development, Iran's main military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that any US attack on Iranian power plants and bridges would trigger a devastating response against all infrastructure across West Asia, as Iranian forces struck US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

The warning came after Trump said Tuesday that the US would expand its strikes on Iran to target power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran agrees to negotiate.

The US military has launched several waves of strikes against Iran's southern provinces over the past few days, claiming that the attacks were in response to the Iranian armed forces targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping".

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the headquarters' spokesman, issued the warning in a video message carried by Iranian media in response to recent threats by Trump to attack Iran's infrastructure if the country does not come to the negotiating table.

"The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will crush everything that has still remained intact owing to Iran's decency," he said, if the US president follows through on threats against Iranian infrastructure.

Zolfaghari stressed that the Iranian armed forces' response will not be "an equal blow," but "more severe, widespread, and devastating than ever".

Houthis asked to close Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Meanwhile, Iran has requested Yemen's Houthis to remain ready for the closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in case the United States attacks Iranian power plants, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Reuters cited three sources, two senior Iranians and a regional source familiar with the matter, as saying that the idea had been discussed within Iran's leadership, and conveyed to the Houthi group.

Reuters also quoted a source close to the Houthis as saying that the group had completed preparations for attacking ships crossing the Bab el-Mandeb by deploying missiles and drones near the strait, which serves as the gateway to the Red Sea and a main route for global energy supplies.

Trump's claim of US citizen's release

Separately, Iran's judiciary denied Trump's claim that Tehran had released a US citizen detained since December 2024, saying no US prisoner or spy had been freed or exchanged.

Investigations showed "no American convicted prisoner or spy with the characteristics announced by Trump or with any other characteristics has been released from Iranian prisons or exchanged," the Mizan news agency of the judiciary reported.

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The report pointed to Trump's track record of making unsubstantiated claims, saying he had previously been "deceived by his lying sources in other cases".

Trump announced Wednesday that Iran had allowed the US citizen, later identified as Dena Karari, who had been trapped in Iran on bogus charges, to leave the country.