60 IRGC Boats Hit, 170 Targets Struck: CENTCOM Details Two Nights Of Strikes on Iran

CENTCOM says the US Military struck roughly 170 Iranian military targets over two consecutive nights as Washington intensified operations linked to the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military struck roughly 170 Iranian military targets over two consecutive nights, hitting more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats and a wider network of coastal military infrastructure, according to US Central Command. CENTCOM said approximately 90 targets were attacked on July 8, following strikes against about 80 Iranian military targets the previous night.

Washington says the operations were intended to reduce Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners moving through the Strait of Hormuz. The latest target list went well beyond Iranian boats operating in and around the waterway.

US forces struck air-defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline, CENTCOM said. Taken together, the categories cover several stages of a coastal strike network — from detecting activity at sea and protecting military positions to storing weapons, supporting naval forces and sustaining operations.

The second night of attacks, carried out on July 8, involved approximately 90 Iranian military targets. CENTCOM described the operation as an additional round of strikes aimed specifically at further reducing Tehran’s capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Coastal surveillance assets were among the sites targeted. Such systems form part of the military infrastructure used to observe activity along a coastline and surrounding waters, while the missile and drone storage locations named by CENTCOM represent another part of Iran’s maritime strike capability. The US military also attacked logistics infrastructure, although CENTCOM did not provide a site-by-site breakdown of the targets in its statement.

The July 8 operation followed a separate round of attacks conducted the night before. On July 7, American forces hit approximately 80 Iranian military targets, according to CENTCOM, with more than 60 IRGC small boats included in that strike package.

CENTCOM said those attacks were carried out after Iran targeted three commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz. The US command has described the incidents as violations of the Iran ceasefire and said the strikes were intended to impose costs on Tehran for attacks against international shipping.

The targeting of more than 60 IRGC small boats stands out in the two-night operation. Iran’s military presence around the Strait of Hormuz includes naval forces capable of operating close to commercial shipping routes, and CENTCOM placed the boats directly within its account of the threat to vessels transiting the waterway.

The following night’s strikes expanded the target set. Rather than concentrating primarily on naval platforms, the July 8 operation reached air defences, surveillance systems, weapons storage facilities and logistics sites spread along Iran’s coastline.

Across the two nights, the figures released by CENTCOM amount to approximately 170 Iranian military targets. The command has not provided a consolidated assessment of damage to each site or disclosed the full list of locations hit.