When the US resumed strikes on Iran after the ceasefire collapsed on July 8, the targets extended beyond nuclear sites to a series of locations along the southern Iranian coast.
The National's analysis of strike locations over the past two weeks reveals a distinct pattern. Alongside attacks on nuclear and military facilities, the US has repeatedly hit small ports, fishing piers and coastal infrastructure stretching from Bushehr to Chabahar.
At first glance, many of these sites appear to have little military significance. Satellite imagery shows modest fishing harbours rather than major naval bases. But viewed alongside open-source intelligence, footage released by US Central Command (Centcom) and the wider pattern of strikes, a different picture emerges.
The US has carried out more than 300 strikes on Iran since July 8. Washington appears to be systematically targeting one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' most effective military assets: its fleet of heavily armed fast-attack boats. The justification is that such strikes will stop attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a priority for the US and its Gulf allies.
Many of these coastal attacks have also created an opportunity for the US to use some of its new “one-way” drones and small vessels.
Small ports, strategic targets
One of the clearest examples of a US strike on a small Iranian port was at Banood Pier, in Bushehr province, on July 9.
Satellite imagery shows the aftermath of the strike with plumes of smoke rising from what appears to be a fishing harbour. Images and footage shared on social media corroborate the attack, showing boats on fire.
The strike coincided with a wave of attacks across Bushehr in south-west Iran, including near the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Explosions were reported in the south-eastern cities of Konarak and Chabahar later that evening.
Fires broke out at port facilities on Kish Island, another area struck during the waves of US attacks.
Why target fishing boats?
Destroying fishing boats may seem an unusual military objective. But for decades the IRGC has developed a naval strategy built around speed, numbers and surprise rather than the use of large warships. Instead of competing directly with the US Navy's aircraft carriers and destroyers, the IRGC relies on hundreds of small, highly manoeuvrable boats capable of launching rockets, anti-ship missiles and drones, as well as laying mines. Operating in large groups, these vessels are designed to overwhelm much larger ships through co-ordinated “swarm” attacks.
Because the US has “really good maritime reconnaissance” in the strait, the small boats are easy to destroy, said former military intelligence officer Dr Lynette Nusbacher. The Pentagon is focused on those vessels rather than drone or anti-ship missile sites that are harder to find, while it also has a "big stack of targets that are associated with mine laying”.
Attacking fast-attack craft, of which Iran has between 500 and 1,000, is also important because they are used to board and halt vessels in the waterway. “This is a process of destroying Iran's capability for the long term to control the strait,” Dr Nusbacher added. “The Americans also want to ensure that when the Iranians launch on America's Gulf neighbours, there is a retaliatory set of effects.”
Former US Marine specialist Jonathan Hackett said there were two possible reasons to shift focus from striking major infrastructure to small boats and ports. The tactic could be an attempt to maintain pressure “while not inflaming tensions beyond the current level of hostilities”. But the US may also “simply be running out of major targets” owing to the intensity of the earlier air campaign in the war “that likely left the most valuable targets already in ruins”, Mr Hackett added.
Many of the fast-attack boats can be concealed among civilian vessels or operate from small fishing ports rather than naval bases, making them difficult to detect before an attack is launched. This asymmetric approach has become one of the defining features of Iran's military actions in the Arabian Gulf.
US tracked threat for years
The threat posed by Iran's fast boats is not new. In 2019, US officials warned that Tehran had begun mounting missiles on civilian-style motorboats operating in the Gulf. It referred to the intelligence as justification for sending additional military forces to the region.
The report from the US Department of Defence said Iran has also modified dhows "capable of launching cruise missiles". Mr Hackett said that was part and parcel of a “dangerous, escalatory strategy by Iran to threaten global trade and destabilise the region”.
IRGC exercises have regularly featured swarms of speedboats armed with rockets being used to attack mock US aircraft carriers. Anti-ship cruise missiles and ballistic missiles are also often used with the aim of overwhelming naval defences.
The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship programme was developed partly to counter Iranian fast-attack boats operating in the Gulf before the Navy shifted its focus towards competition with China.
Geography favours Iran
Iran's strategy exploits the geography of the strait. The Gulf's shallow waters and the narrow waterway force commercial shipping and naval vessels into predictable transit routes, leaving them vulnerable to mines, missiles and swarms of fast boats. Rather than requiring large naval vessels, the IRGC can disperse its forces across small ports and coastal inlets before concentrating them quickly during a crisis.
That makes seemingly insignificant fishing harbours valuable military assets.
