U.S. forces destroy Iran's Chabahar port tower amid Gulf tensions

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on 16 July that American forces destroyed the Shahid Kalantari surveillance tower at Iran’s Chabahar port. The tower was part of a maritime‑surveillance network used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to monitor commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s IRGC claimed parallel attacks on U.S. facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain and said two oil tankers exploded after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, but CENTCOM later refuted the tanker explosion claim. The Iranian Embassy in India condemned the Chabahar strike as a “war crime,” citing violation of international law.

India, which co‑develops the Chabahar terminal with Iran, said the Shahid Beheshti terminal was unharmed, stressing that civilian infrastructure should not be targeted. The United States has described the strike as aimed at weakening the IRGC’s ability to coordinate attacks and to protect freedom of navigation in regional waters.