No sign of war winding down in Mideast as Friday dawns with attacks across region

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — There was little sign Friday of the war in the Mideast winding down as Israel said it faced incoming fire from Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain reported being under attack, and Iran said eight people were killed while celebrating the close of Persian new year near a major bridge hit by a U.S. strike.

Tehran continued to demonstrate its ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated and cheered the collapse of the bridge on Thursday, reportedly the tallest in the Middle East.

Iran decried the strike on the bridge, which also injured 95 people celebrating Nature Day, when Iranians gather for picnics and other celebrations outdoors on the last day of Nowruz, the Persian new year.

“Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote Thursday in a post on X.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage i...