The US military continued its large-scale airstrikes against Iran on the 17th (local time).
US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that day, saying, "We began airstrikes targeting Iran at 3 p.m.," and noting it was the "seventh consecutive night." Central Command added, "These strikes were planned to continuously degrade Iran's military capabilities in accordance with the direction of the commander-in-chief (President Donald Trump)." The US military has been conducting nightly airstrikes on Iran every day since the 11th of this month. On the 15th, it also carried out strikes in broad daylight.
Central Command also said on the 16th that it had "successfully destroyed the surveillance tower at the Shahid Kalantari port in Chabahar, part of Iran's maritime surveillance network built along the coast of the Gulf of Oman." According to Central Command, the surveillance tower had been used for decades by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to track commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Chabahar is Iran's only port opening directly onto the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Central Command also stated that through its naval blockade against Iran, which began on the 14th, it had turned away four vessels and conducted a boarding inspection on one.
