Iran claims US-Israel strikes damage bridges, railways ahead of Trump's deadline

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - TEHRAN — Iran has claimed at least two bridges, railway infrastructure and a key highway were hit and damaged on Tuesday as part of a wave of US-Israeli air strikes on infrastructure targets.
A bridge near the holy city of Qom and another carrying a railway line in the central city of Kashan were struck, according to regional officials quoted by state-run media.
Two people were killed, and three were injured in Kashan, senior regional security official Akbar Salehi said, according to Iran's IRNA news agency. The death toll could not be independently verified.
A key highway in northern Iran connecting the main northern city of Tabriz with Tehran via Zanjan was also closed after a hit around 90 kilometres outside of Tabriz, an official told IRNA.
A Telegram channel of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said the strike hit an overpass bridge.
The Mizan news agency also reported a strike on railway tracks in Karaj, outside Tehran, with images showing Red Crescent rescuers carrying an injured man on a stretcher.
All trains to and from Iran's second-largest city Mashhad were cancelled on Tuesday following a warning from Israel against using the railways.
According to the ISNA news agency, there was a power outage in parts of the cities of Karaj and Fardis outside Tehran after power transmission lines and a power substation were knocked out of service by airstrikes.
As reports of the damage emerged from Iran, the Israeli military said it had completed a broad wave of strikes targeting "infrastructure sites," without providing details of what the sites were.
US President Donald Trump had threatened to target Iranian infrastructure unless Tehran agreed a deal to end the war on Tuesday, saying he was "considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil."
Iran's Mehr news agency also reported strikes on the strategic Kharg Island, which is central to the country’s oil exports and economy.
About 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports leave the country via the island, much of it destined for China and other Asian markets.
Kharg Island is relatively small — about 8 kilometres long and 4–5 kilometres wide — but it hosts extensive infrastructure, including storage tanks, pipelines and offshore loading terminals.
The island's terminals can load roughly 1.3–1.6 million barrels of crude per day, helped by deep-water access that allows very large crude carriers to dock.
Iran shows no sign of backing down as a US deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz looms, defying threats by Donald Trump to "decimate" the country's civilian infrastructure.
Trump has warned that unless Tehran allows free passage through the strategic oil chokepoint, the US will unleash what he called the "complete demolition" of Iran's critical infrastructure overnight on Wednesday.
"We have a plan ... where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again," Trump said. — Agencies