Iranian engineers mourn a bombed bridge as Trump boasts of the attack that killed civilians and severed a key infrastructure project.
KARAJ: Iranian engineer Roozbeh Yazdi stood amid the wreckage of the Middle East’s tallest bridge, severed by strikes proudly claimed by US President Donald Trump.
“This bridge was like our child,” he said, fighting back tears at the site where the bridge was due to open this summer.
An official said 12 bombs had been dropped in the attack, which Iranian media reported killed 13 civilians and wounded dozens.
The force of the blasts sliced the bridge in half at its midpoint, with twisted steel and concrete now dangling over the void.
Further strikes destroyed the ends of the bridge deck, though its two main pillars and the word “Iran” in calligraphy remain.
Experts say they do not know if the bridge, known as B1, can ever be repaired.
“We worked hard to assemble these parts. We cried, we sweated buckets,” Yazdi said, noting the two-year construction effort.
Another engineer, Hamed Zekri, said their work was destroyed in three hours.
“They are attacking only the country’s and people’s infrastructure,” the 41-year-old told AFP.
In the valley below, families had been picnicking when the blast struck, with journalists seeing residential buildings with blown-out windows.
Trump has bragged about bombing the bridge on his Truth Social platform.
“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again,” he wrote alongside video of the wreckage.
He declared the US military would target bridges and then electric power plants next.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said striking civilian structures would not compel Iranians to surrender.
According to Iranian news agency ISNA, B1 was the country’s most complex engineering project.
Its highest point rose 176 metres above ground, stretching 1,050 metres in length.
The bridge was part of a major motorway project aimed at reducing travel time between Tehran and northern Iran.
Iran’s Fars news agency published a list of key regional bridges as potential targets for retaliation.
The list was headed by major causeways in Kuwait and between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.