WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/EHRAN/UNITED NATIONS – US forces on Friday launched a new round of strikes against Iran at 3 pm Eastern Time (1900 GMT), marking the seventh consecutive night of attacks, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

The strikes are intended to further degrade Iran's military capabilities, CENTCOM said.

Late Thursday, CENTCOM said US forces, including fighter jets, drones and warships, had carried out precision strikes against dozens of Iranian military targets, including coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime assets.

Among the targets struck was the surveillance tower at Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port, which forms part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran's Gulf of Oman coastline.

According to CENTCOM, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps used the tower to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. 

Report: US to send military refueling planes to Israel

The US administration has informed Israel that it will send dozens of military refueling aircraft to Israel in the coming days in preparation for a possible expansion of the fighting against Iran, Israel's Channel 12 News reported on Friday.

Citing senior US and Israeli officials, the channel said that US President Donald Trump may order an offensive in Iran significantly larger than the ongoing strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the report, Trump is ready to escalate the fighting in the coming days to inflict sufficient damage to force Iran to reopen the strait and accept US nuclear demands.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that the security systems in Israel and the US are conducting a dialogue over the escalation in Iran.

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According to Kan's sources, recent US strikes, which have already reached the Tehran area, could prompt a change in Washington's approach, which has so far kept Israel away from intervening in the fighting.

Both channels noted that the planned refueling aircraft deployment is expected to worsen the operational parking shortage at Ben Gurion International Airport, disrupting civilian flights.

Iran warns of 'destructive' phase

A top Iranian military adviser warned on Friday that if the US continues the war against Iran for another two to three days, the country will enter an "offensive and destructive" phase.

Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV that the policy of "both war and negotiation" has ended, adding that if US attacks continue, Iran's armed forces will no longer limit themselves to retaliatory strikes, and US bases and forces will no longer be safe within any political borders.

Rezaei said Iran has so far exercised restraint to prevent the war from expanding into a broader regional and international crisis, accusing the US of miscalculating by turning the war into a regional one.

He warned that if the US continues its anti-Iran actions, Iran will deploy additional military capabilities, including ground forces, and the war's scope will expand.

Rezaei also called on the peoples of regional countries, including Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, to help prevent further escalation.

He noted that even at the current stage, Iran's responses to the US attacks have been "very heavy," warning that the intensity of Iranian military operations will increase in the coming days.

Guterres concerned by continuing escalation

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remains deeply concerned by the continuing military escalation between Iran and the US, his deputy spokesman said Friday.

Guterres is particularly concerned about attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region, his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said, adding that the UN chief stressed that "such attacks are unacceptable."

Guterres reiterated his firm conviction that there is no military solution to this conflict, and called for stepped-up diplomatic efforts toward a peaceful and durable settlement. Such a settlement should include the full restoration of international navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz, Haq said.