Iran International
The latest US strikes on southern Iran may offer the clearest indication yet of how Washington's campaign around the Strait of Hormuz is evolving from retaliation to the systematic degradation of Iran's military infrastructure.
American forces have been striking targets along Iran’s Persian Gulf coast for almost a week.
Iranian media reported that eight people were killed as bridges, communications infrastructure and a maritime surveillance tower were hit across Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces.
Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, says the concentration of attacks along Iran’s southern coastline—and increasingly farther inland—suggests the United States is moving beyond retaliation against individual strikes and targeting the infrastructure that allows Tehran to sustain and eventually rebuild the military capabilities underpinning its operations around the Strait of Hormuz.
“Up until very recently, the United States was primarily focused on doing retaliatory strikes exclusively along the coastline of Iran,” Heinrichs told Eye for Iran. . “
‘Protecting maritime traffic’
The attacks came after President Donald Trump warned that bridges and power infrastructure could become targets if Tehran refused to return to negotiations.
Iranian military officials, meanwhile, said the conflict would “spread to new areas” if US operations continued.
“I suspect that the United States has had these targets on their list,” she said. “President Trump has gone back to Admiral Cooper and said, ‘What else do we need to hit?’”
The likely focus, she added, was Iran’s ability to replenish the military capabilities it uses around the Strait of Hormuz.
Among the sites struck was a maritime surveillance tower in Chabahar. Iran described it as a facility monitoring commercial shipping, while US Central Command said it formed part of an IRGC network used to track vessels transiting the strait and coordinate attacks against them.
CENTCOM said destroying the tower would directly reduce the Revolutionary Guards’ ability to threaten maritime traffic.
The targeting of bridges in Hormozgan province also points to an expanding set of military objectives.
Heinrichs said Washington had sought to limit civilian harm, but argued that some dual-use infrastructure could become a legitimate military target if it substantially enabled IRGC operations.
“There are some targets that the United States could legitimately hit,” she said. “They may create some harm, of course, to the civilian population, but they also primarily enable and facilitate the IRGC to repress their people and to continue their war effort.”
A limited ground role?
The widening campaign has also fuelled speculation about whether Washington could eventually deploy ground forces inside Iran.
Heinrichs dismissed the prospect of a large-scale invasion, saying any deployment would more likely involve special operations forces tasked with securing or removing nuclear material rather than occupying territory.
“If President Trump were to go with any contingency that would entail some element of US ground forces, it would almost certainly be because the United States wants to remove any nuclear material that is still inside Iran,” she said.
For now, however, Heinrichs believes the campaign remains centred on the Strait of Hormuz.
The initial phase significantly weakened Iran’s military leadership and its capacity to project power beyond its borders, she said. Washington has now moved into what she described as “the battle over the Strait of Hormuz.”
Taken together, the latest strikes point to a campaign that is evolving beyond retaliation. Rather than simply responding to Iranian attacks, Washington appears increasingly focused on preventing Tehran from regenerating the military infrastructure underpinning its operations around the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC was designated alongside the Iran-linked Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps, the first organizations placed under powers created by the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026.
The designations took effect on July 17 after Parliament approved an order submitted by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood four days earlier.
Under the new law, it is now a criminal offence to express support for the groups, including by glorifying or encouraging activity that threatens the safety of the United Kingdom.
Providing assistance or accepting money or another material benefit from a designated organization can also lead to prosecution. Those convicted could face prison sentences of up to 14 years.
People who commit sabotage, arson or other hostile acts on behalf of the groups could be charged separately under the National Security Act 2023 and face life imprisonment.
The designation is distinct from banning an organization under Britain’s terrorism legislation. It is designed specifically to address hostile activity linked to foreign governments, including espionage, political interference, intimidation, sabotage and physical attacks.
The government says the new framework will make it easier to prosecute people working for foreign organizations because prosecutors will not always have to establish a direct connection between an individual act and a foreign government.
Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said when the measures were announced that Britain would not be allowed to become “a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets.”
“We have already taken tough action against the Iranian regime and those linked to it, and against Russian operatives and networks targeting our country,” he said. “These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain.”
The IRGC is one of the Islamic Republic’s most powerful military and political institutions. Its overseas Quds Force oversees Tehran’s relationships with allied armed groups and has been accused by British authorities of directing operations against dissidents, journalists and Jewish or Israeli-linked targets in Europe.
The British government said the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right had claimed responsibility for seven attacks this year against Persian-language media and locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities in Britain.
Those incidents included an antisemitic arson attack that damaged four ambulances belonging to the Jewish emergency service Hatzola in Golders Green, north London, on March 23.
British authorities said Quds Force members were behind the organization and had “almost certainly” directed its attacks across Europe. The allegations have not been tested in court.
The government has also cited at least 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots identified by the domestic intelligence agency MI5 over a one-year period.
“Iran and Russia are using proxies and thugs to do their dirty work on our shores,” Mahmood said when she announced the intended designations. “We will find you, and we will lock you up.”
The third designated organization, the GRU Volunteer Corps, is described by Britain as a network controlled by Russian military intelligence that recruits people online to carry out arson, sabotage, harassment and other hostile activity.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the use of proxies by Iran and Russia to conduct operations on British soil was “reprehensible.”
The designation marks a significant escalation in Britain’s response to the IRGC. Rather than banning the organization as a terrorist group, the government has created a separate route to prosecute support, recruitment, financing and operational assistance linked to hostile foreign-state activity.
Police said Vahid Aberi, of Liverpool, was charged under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023 with assisting a foreign intelligence service. They said the foreign state to which the investigation relates is Iran.
Aberi was arrested on Wednesday in the Birmingham area and taken to a West Midlands police station. Officers also carried out searches at addresses in Birmingham and Liverpool.
He was remanded in custody and was due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Police say no direct threat identified
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the investigation reflected what she described as a sustained increase in national security casework.
"We have seen a significant and sustained increase in the tempo of our work in national security investigations in recent years," she said in a statement.
She said police had "intervened to disrupt suspected activity linked to foreign intelligence services" but declined to comment further on the allegations because criminal proceedings had begun.
Flanagan added that police had not identified any direct threat to the public, nor any threat to a community or individual, in connection with the investigation.
The charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Scrutiny of alleged Iran-linked activity
The case comes as Britain has intensified efforts to counter what it says is hostile activity linked to Iran.
Earlier this month, a London court sentenced two Romanian nationals to a combined 20 years in prison for stabbing Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati outside his home in Wimbledon in 2024. The judge accepted the prosecution's case that the attack was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state. Iran has previously rejected accusations that it has been involved in attacks or plots in Britain.
Separately, the British government announced this week that it intends to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards under new state threats legislation. If approved by parliament, supporting or assisting the group under the new legal framework could carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
The government has said the designation is separate from proscription under Britain's terrorism laws and is intended to address foreign state-backed activity, including espionage, interference, sabotage and physical attacks.
British authorities have repeatedly said they have disrupted a number of alleged Iran-linked plots in recent years. Iran has previously dismissed British allegations that it has directed hostile activity in the UK.
The Hamshahri newspaper reported on Thursday that falling birth rates, coupled with soaring daycare costs, have reduced demand for kindergartens and preschool centers across the country.
Monthly daycare fees vary widely across Tehran, according to the report. In middle-income neighborhoods, tuition ranges from 50 million ($25) to 80 million rials (over $40), while families in wealthier districts pay between 250 million (around $130) and 300 million rials ($160).
The average monthly income in Iran is estimated at $150–$200, depending on fluctuations in the open-market exchange rate. By comparison, the minimum monthly cost of basic living expenses, including food and housing, is estimated at $385–$400, leaving many households unable to meet essential needs.
Daycare operators in affluent areas attributed the higher fees to rising rents and staff wages, saying the increased costs have discouraged many parents from enrolling their children.
More than 60% of kindergarten operating costs are spent on personnel under Iran's labor law, Hamidreza Sheikholeslam, head of the National Organization for Early Childhood Education, said in June.
Sheikholeslam said staffing costs, the number of teachers and children, operating hours, rent, facilities and equipment, and other operating expenses all influence tuition fees.
Many families, the report said, have responded to rising childcare costs and broader financial pressures by turning to lower-cost alternatives, most commonly asking grandparents to care for young children.
Experts warn of social consequences
Sociologists quoted by Hamshahri said removing daycare from household spending is not only an economic decision but could become a broader social challenge.
They argued that young children benefit from interacting with their peers in educational settings and warned that replacing daycare with care by relatives could undermine their social development.
The concerns follow earlier reports highlighting the growing burden on extended families. In May, the Shargh newspaper reported that prolonged preschool closures following the recent war left many working parents scrambling for childcare, with some relying on grandparents and relatives.
Another report published by Haft-e Sobh daily in February warned that rising daycare costs had effectively turned many grandparents into full-time caregivers, raising concerns about the physical and psychological burden on older adults as well as differences in parenting approaches across generations.
