US bombs rail links to Mashhad, where Khamenei is to be buried; Tehran says, ‘inability to comprehend Iran's loyalty’

Iran said US strikes had hit railway bridges leading to the holy city of Mashhad, where the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was to be buried, marking the first attacks on the country's transport infrastructure in months as tension escalated.

Train services to Iran’s holiest city were disrupted on Thursday after overnight strikes damaged key railway infrastructure near Mashhad, including a bridge about 55 km from the city.

The attacks came as thousands of mourners were travelling to Mashhad for the long-delayed burial of supreme leader

Iran's foreign ministry said the attacks show Washington “inability to comprehend the depth of Iranians’ patriotism and loyalty to the revolution’s ideals”.

Every time they hit us, we’ll hit them 20: Trump

Meanwhile, US Central Command said on X it hit about 90 targets on Wednesday — after 80 the previous day — “to further degrade” the Islamic Republic’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Centcom said it targeted Iran’s air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, and missile and drone storage sites. Iranian media reported that US forces also hit railways, forcing Iran to suspend a line connecting capital Tehran with Mashad, where Khamenei is scheduled to be buried later on Thursday.

“Every time they hit us, we’ll hit them 20,” US President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

“I don’t know. We’d win it very quickly. We have many ways we could win,” he added when asked whether the US and Iran were returning to an all-out war.

Iran responded by targeting US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.

If you strike, you will be struck back: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to expand its attacks, according to Press TV. Earlier, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a warning that “the US still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking its commitments no longer come without a cost.”

“Let me be clear: If you strike, you will be struck back,” he said in a post on X.

Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed the military escalation in a phone call with Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to a statement from Qatar’s foreign ministry. Attacks on commercial ships in Strait of Hormuz erode trust and harm efforts for regional security, he said.

The attacks came about three weeks after the US and Iran signed an interim peace agreement that triggered a 60-day negotiation period to resolve outstanding issues in the conflict. The talks, are on hold while Iran conducts a week-long mass funeral for Khamenei.