The US military said it completed the 11th night of strikes on Iran early on Wednesday as attacks across the Middle East overshadowed diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to salvage an interim ceasefire deal that has collapsed.
US Central Command said targets included aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.
The newest barrage came after US President Donald Trump telegraphed that strikes would be intensified.
Before the latest strikes, Iranian interior minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revamp diplomacy.
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But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital to world energy supplies.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Mr Trump gave a dim view of possible talks, saying the US had “no interest in meeting”.
He signalled that US forces could soon target an area of Iran close to one of its main sites for enriching uranium.
With negotiations and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz largely stalled, both sides have sought to gain leverage by targeting civilian infrastructure in the region relied on by millions of people.
A barrage of US strikes has not loosened Iran’s grip on the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas was shipped before the war.
Iranian interior minister Eskandar Momeni, left, visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revamp diplomacy on Tuesday (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)
The US continued its airstrikes on the Islamic Republic on Tuesday and Iran attacked a tanker in the strait, forcing the crew to abandon the ship.
Iran also kept up attacks against US allies in the region. Sirens in Bahrain and Kuwait warned residents of incoming projectiles.
And missile alert sirens sounded in Jordan’s port city of Aqaba on Wednesday, as officials in neighbouring Israel said an Iranian missile attack targeted the kingdom.
The escalation pushed energy prices higher. The international benchmark for crude oil traded on Tuesday above 91 dollars (£67.99) a barrel and regular gasoline in the US climbed to an average of four dollars (£2.99) a gallon.
With US midterm elections approaching in the autumn, polls have pointed to the unpopularity of the war among Americans, who have felt the pain of pricier gas and seen new casualties in a conflict that weeks ago seemed to be winding down.
The number of wounded US personnel in the Iran war has grown to well over 500 troops, a US official told The Associated Press.
The barrage of US strikes has not loosened Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
The total is higher than the Pentagon’s official tally on the Defence Casualty Analysis System, which currently shows 482 wounded.
The US official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the system has a significant lag in reporting injuries.
The official said that it was a function of its design and not intentional.
In the Red Sea, Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels have opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market.
A news agency in Yemen that is run by the Houthis, SABA, said on Tuesday that six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute after they received warnings from the rebel group.
The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the claim.
Three Houthi officials said the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorised to speak to journalists.