The U.S. military destroyed a surveillance tower at Iran's Chabahar port on Friday, expanding the conflict zone beyond the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes targeted maritime infrastructure believed to support Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping, prompting Iran to fire on Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.
The U.S. airstrikes on Chabahar port mark a significant escalation of the conflict, expanding the geographical scope of hostilities and increasing regional tensions. Iran's retaliatory actions raise concerns about further escalation and potential disruption to vital shipping lanes.
U.S. airstrikes on Friday appeared to have collapsed a tower at Iran’s Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, a key trade route for Afghanistan. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an image of the surveillance tower appearing to collapse, which had previously circulated on social media via activists.
Chabahar port has been a repeated target of American airstrikes. Iranian state media acknowledged a third round of strikes on the facility without immediately acknowledging the tower’s collapse. Iran described the tower as overseeing commercial traffic into the port, though the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also operates at ports across the country.
The strikes targeted maritime infrastructure and military facilities believed to support Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping, according to U.S. military officials. This marks the first known U.S. operation in Chabahar since an April ceasefire and significantly expands the geographical scope of the conflict beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
American forces also boarded a ship in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday as part of a renewed blockade of Iran’s ports. U.S. Central Command stated that Marines boarded the M/T Wen Yao to ensure compliance with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade and that three commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade had been redirected. The previous day, a U.S. aircraft disabled an unladen oil tanker that tried to break the blockade.
The boarding of vessels occurred as the U.S. expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran with attacks on multiple bridges, in line with President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy infrastructure. This prompted Tehran to fire on Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended the U.S. response, calling it "absolutely necessary" after repeated Iranian violations of the truce.