US strikes Chabahar port; maritime control tower destroyed, two piers damaged

US forces struck Iran's strategic Chabahar port in the southeast on July 8 and 9, 2026 (17 and 18 Tir), the first American military action there since the recent ceasefire took hold. Mohammad Saeed Arbabi, head of the Chabahar Free Zone Organization, told Iran's Fars News Agency that the port's maritime traffic control tower was completely destroyed and two piers, Shahid Beheshti and Kalantari, were damaged. The strikes knocked out power to roughly half of Chabahar city, damaging three transmission lines, two of which have since been restored. Chabahar is Iran's only deep water oceanic port and its main gateway to the Indian Ocean; India has invested in its development, including the Chabahar to Zahedan rail line. It marks the first US strike on the port since the ceasefire.