US destroys Iran's Chabahar Port surveillance tower in fresh strikes

The US military said on Friday that it destroyed the surveillance tower at Iran's Chabahar Shahid Kalantari Port on Thursday.

In a post on X, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the tower was part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran's Gulf of Oman coastline that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had used for decades to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

According to CENTCOM, the destruction of the tower "directly degrades" the IRGC's ability to coordinate attacks on civilian crew members. It added that the strike protects freedom of navigation in regional waters for all vessels, except ships attempting to violate the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran.

"On July 16, US forces successfully destroyed the Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower, part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran's Gulf of Oman coastline used for decades by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM said in its statement.

It further said, "The destruction of the tower directly degrades IRGC's ability to coordinate attacks on innocent civilian crew members. Furthermore, the strike protects freedom of navigation in regional waters for all vessels, except for ships attempting to violate the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran."

Chabahar Port, which Iran had been running with support from India, has been a repeated target of American airstrikes. Iranian state media acknowledged a third round of strikes on the facility but did not immediately acknowledge the collapse of the surveillance tower.

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