TEHRAN: Iran’s strategic Chabahar Port sustained damage to its maritime traffic control tower following a US airstrike targeting the country’s southern coastal infrastructure.
On July 9, Mohammad Saeed Arbabi, Managing Director of the Chabahar Free Zone Organization, confirmed the strike, saying that “during the US attack on Chabahar, the maritime traffic control tower of the Chabahar Free Zone was targeted and damaged.”
The report follows explosions in several strategic port cities and coastal locations on July 8–9, including Bandar Abbas, Jask, Sirik, Chabahar, Isfahan, Abu Musa Island, and parts of Bushehr Province.
Situated on the Gulf of Oman, Chabahar is one of Iran’s most important maritime gateways. The port is also a strategic asset for India, providing access to Afghanistan and Central Asia while bypassing Pakistan. In addition, it serves as a key hub for the International North-South Transport Corridor, linking India with Russia and Europe via Iran.
Although India signed a 10-year agreement to develop the port in 2024, it no longer directly operates the facility after temporarily transferring its stake in the Chabahar Free Zone to an Iranian entity following the reimposition of US sanctions. The move was intended to protect India’s approximately $120 million investment while preserving the possibility of resuming direct involvement if geopolitical conditions improve.
The US strikes on Iranian rail and coastal infrastructure have also placed Central Asia’s southern transport corridors under renewed pressure. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have spent years developing routes through Iran to reach the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and international markets while reducing reliance on routes through Russia.
On July 9, US cruise missiles reportedly struck the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge in Aq Qala County, causing structural damage but no casualties. The bridge is located on the Gorgan–Incheh Borun railway line, a key overland trade corridor linking Iran with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and providing onward connections to Russia and China.
The Gorgan-Incheh Borun railway was inaugurated in December 2014, linking Iran with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. The broader Uzen-Bereket-Gorgan route extends more than 900 kilometers from western Kazakhstan through Turkmenistan into northern Iran, connecting the rail networks of the two countries with Iran’s ports on the Persian Gulf and beyond.
The US military has described the latest strikes as a response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on July 8 that its forces had struck about 90 Iranian military targets, including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline. According to CENTCOM, the operation was intended “to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.”
