{"text":[[{"start":9,"text":"The US escalated its military campaign in Iran on Thursday, striking deeper inside the country as local media reported that infrastructure including bridges, a railway and an airport had been hit by American forces."}],[{"start":22.8,"text":"US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on Thursday that it had carried out a sixth consecutive night aimed at “further degrading Iranian military capabilities and holding Iran accountable for recent attacks on commercial shipping”."}],[{"start":39.650000000000006,"text":"American fighter jets, drones and warships hit dozens of Iranian military targets including coastal surveillance and air-defence sites, as well as military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities, Centcom added."}],[{"start":53.45,"text":"At least seven people were killed and nine others injured as two bridges came under attack in the port city of Bandar Khamir, according to Iranian state television."}],[{"start":63.400000000000006,"text":"Electrical facilities and a fuel storage tank at Iranshahr airport were also attacked, according to Fars news agency, which is close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards."}],[{"start":73.60000000000001,"text":"US strikes over the past week have shattered a ceasefire agreed last month to open the Strait of Hormuz to oil and other trade. The flare-up has pushed up the price of oil, with traders warning of a supply crunch."}],[{"start":84.80000000000001,"text":"Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 1 per cent in Asia trading on Friday morning to $85.11, and was up more than 11 per cent on a week prior. "}],[{"start":95.85000000000001,"text":"The White House said recent strikes were because of Iran’s violation of the memorandum of understanding signed in June to allow traffic through the strait while the two sides negotiated a longer-term settlement, including over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme."}],[{"start":109.2,"text":"Trump this month declared his shortlived ceasefire with Iran to be “over”, but the White House added on Thursday that talks were ongoing."}],[{"start":118.8,"text":"The US targets have mostly been focused along Iran’s southern coast, but a limited number of strikes further inside Iran in recent days, including against infrastructure, have been seen by some analysts as a signal from Washington that it has scope to intensify the aerial campaign."}],[{"start":135.25,"text":"General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, said on state television that US attacks on Iranian infrastructure would make all infrastructure in the region “legitimate targets for Iran”. "}],[{"start":148.25,"text":"An energy ministry official said electricity transmission lines in Bandar Abbas and surrounding villages had been damaged in the attacks, causing power outages in some areas."}],[{"start":159.65,"text":"The White House and defence department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "}],[{"start":164.70000000000002,"text":"The US also has hardened its naval blockade of the strait, boarding a vessel on Thursday to “ensure full compliance with the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran”."}],[{"start":174.75000000000003,"text":"American forces on Wednesday struck a tanker headed for Iran’s oil export hub Kharg Island, the first time the US has fired on a commercial vessel since reimposing its blockade of the Islamic republic’s ports."}],[{"start":187.45000000000002,"text":"“The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America’s steel wall blockade,” US Central Command posted on X on Thursday. "}],[{"start":200.05,"text":"The renewed military exchanges have largely shut the strategic waterway, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas typically transits, ending a brief surge of shipments under the ceasefire."}],[{"start":211.70000000000002,"text":"Iran’s army on Thursday said it targeted the US military’s helicopter and reconnaissance aircraft positions at Sakhir air base in Bahrain using one-way attack drones in response to strikes on Iranian civilians and urban infrastructure."}],[{"start":232.95000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784255397_4345.mp3"}