Iran17 July, 20263 min read
Tehran Targeted Tankers in Strait of Hormuz, US Strikes IRGC Installations
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US airstrikes hit southern Iran, targeting ports and transport infrastructure, causing casualties. Hormozgan bridges damaged, disrupting main transport corridors to Shahid Rajaee Port.
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Strait of Hormuz Attacks
Marine traffic watchers told ABC News & Headlines that tankers struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks were part of a "highly, highly targeted" campaign run by Tehran. ABC News & Headlines said traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was choked by Tehran and Gulf states used a southern corridor route that hugs the Omani coastline, until "Last week, Iran decided to shut it down too." The ABC News & Headlines report quoted shipping analyst Michelle Bockmann of Windward saying, "Vessels had been going through with their AIS [or tracking] switched off for a protracted period of time."
It added that the Qatari vessel, the Al Rekayyat, was hit about 8 nautical miles (15 kilometres) off the coast of Limah in Oman, and that the assault caused a blaze to engulf the vessel’s engine room. ABC News & Headlines also said the US blamed Tehran and launched strikes at Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) installations along the Iranian coastline, prompting retaliatory strikes targeting Gulf states.
Bridge Strikes in Hormozgan
Iranian outlets described US cruise-missile strikes on bridges in Hormozgan Province, with Fars News Agency reporting that five key bridges in Khimir County—Gariyeh Bridge, Latidan Village Bridge (Kalmetli), two bridges on the Kahrostan–Lar route, the half-built bridge on the Bandar Khamir–Kashar axis, and the Maru village bridge—were struck. Fars News Agency said the Bandar Abbas railway junction and the sea-guard/observation tower at Chabahar port were also hit for the third time in recent days, and it reported that "The latest figures indicate seven killed and at least nine others injured." روزنامه دنیای اقتصاد said the main targets were the bridges connecting Bandar Khamir in Hormozgan Province, and it listed the Gariyeh bridges on the Bandar Abbas–Khamir–Lar route and the bridge at Maro village in Bandar Khamir County as struck.
It reported that these attacks caused the partial closure of portions of these transit corridors, with traffic police deployed to create alternate routes. The same report said the number of martyrs from the Bandar Khamir bridges attacks rose to seven, and nine were injured, and it also described casualties in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr after additional strikes.
Judiciary Claims and Retaliation
PressTV quoted Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Eje'i saying the American "sinister plot" was "nipped in the bud" with the collapse of the "southern corridor" scheme.
PressTV said Mohseni Eje'i made the remarks as the United States continued its acts of aggression against Iran's southern cities and ports for the seventh consecutive night, and he described the defeat of the southern corridor plan as evidence of "strategic failure."
The Palestinian Information Center said Iranian media reported explosions and air strikes in the south and southeast of the country carried out by American aircraft, and it cited U.S. Central Command saying, "We completed the latest wave of strikes against Iran."
It also reported that Tasnim News Agency published footage it said shows the state of the Bandar Abbas–Lar axis bridge after the American attack, including ongoing fires in a truck on the bridge.
PressTV added that the current aggression followed the US-Israeli aggression that began on February 28, when Washington and Tel Aviv launched large-scale attacks on Iranian territory, and that Iran answered with daily waves of missile and drone strikes under the operational codename “True Promise 4.”