Tehran: Iran has released a list of eight major bridges across the Middle Eastern region, hinting at a "tit-for-tat" retaliation following a US-Israeli attack on key infrastructure in the northern city of Karaj. Publishing the 'hit list', Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency said that several prominent bridges in Gulf nations and Jordan could be possible targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after two strikes hit Iran's tallest B1 bridge on Thursday.
The Iranian list has the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Sea Bridge in Kuwait; the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Al Maqta Bridge and Sheikh Khalifa Bridge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); the King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain; as well as the King Hussein Bridge, Damia Bridge and Abdoun Bridge in Jordan on it, according to an Anadolu report.
US-Israeli strikes on Thursday partially destroyed the tallest bridge in the Middle East. Several people were injured in the strike that came after President Donald Trump warned of bombing Iran "back to the Stone Age". The 136-metre-high B1 bridge was still under construction and was supposed to link Tehran to the western city of Karaj.
Ghodratollah Seif, the deputy governor of Alborz province, where the B1 bridge is located, said the strike had killed eight people and wounded 95 others, according to state TV and Fars news agency.
Videos circulating on social media showed major sections of the bridge collapsing following the attack. US President Donald Trump also posted footage showing smoke rising from the B1 bridge, located 35 kilometres southwest of Tehran -- and warned that there would be further destruction unless Iran comes to the table to end the five-week war.
"The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again -- much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!" Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X: "Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender." "It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray."
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on February 28, killing over 1,340 people to date, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Gulf nations hosting US military assets.
