U.S. airstrikes on Friday (July 17, 2026) appeared to have collapsed a tower at Iran’s Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, a key trade route for Afghanistan.

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shared the image of the surveillance tower appearing to collapse. That image had circulated social media via activists prior to Mr. Hegseth sharing it.

West Asia LIVE updates – July 17, 2026

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. However, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also operates at ports across the country.

As the U.S. sanctions waiver for Iran’s Chabahar port ends on Sunday (April 26, 2026), the government faces a major test in strategic autonomy, as it may have to choose between exiting the 23-year-old port project or facing American sanctions.

Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have been holding talks with U.S. counterparts on the issue since October 2025, when Washington extended the waiver for six months until April 26, 2026, to give India time to “wind down” the project. Given the U.S.-Iran war and a series of U.S. measures targeting Iran under the U.S. Treasury’s “Operation Economic Fury”, officials said they were not hopeful of another extension.