Pete Hegseth shares image of Chabahar port tower collapse as US-Iran conflict escalates: Why it matters to India

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared on his social media account on Thursday (local time) an image of a tower that appeared to have collapsed after Washington launched repeated strikes against Iran.

According to the AP news agency, the image is said to show the Chabahar Port Tower; however, the US Secretary of Defense did not attribute the tower or the painting to any location.

The development came hours after the US military expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran by launching attacks on bridges and destroying a tower in the Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman, as part of US President Donald Trump’s threats to launch strikes on infrastructure to force the Islamic Republic to ease up on the Strait of Hormuz. In retaliation, Tehran launched new missile attacks against US allies in the region, including Qatar, a key intermediary in the war.

The US has been attacking Iran’s infrastructure in recent attacks

The port of Chabahar was a repeated target of US airstrikes. Tehran described the tower as overseeing commercial traffic to the port. According to the AP, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also operates in ports across the country. The attacks hit bridges overnight Friday in Hormozgan province, south of Tehran, killing at least seven people.

The port was a key trade route for landlocked neighboring Afghanistan, state news agency IRNA reported. The attacks also hit Bandar Khamir, a city on the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the AP, the attacks on the highway and railway bridge were said to be aimed at cutting off Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port, from roads leading to the country’s central region and on to Tehran, the capital.

While other avenues remain open, US strikes could expand further, disrupting the movement of military equipment and goods needed by the country’s 90 million people. The Islamic Republic also acknowledged for the first time on Friday “attacks on energy infrastructure” during the US airstrike campaign, as its energy ministry issued a call for people in its southern provinces to use less energy.

Chabahar port important for India

According to The Indian Express, Chabahar, located at the entrance to the Gulf of Oman, is Iran’s first deep sea port with direct access to the open ocean, making it a key hub on international maritime trade routes. Located west of Iran’s border with Pakistan, it is roughly opposite Gwadar, a Chinese port in Pakistan that lies east of the border and is often considered a regional rival to Chabahar.

The port is of strategic importance to both Iran and India and could help Tehran reduce the impact of Western sanctions by expanding its trade ties while providing India with a trade corridor to Afghanistan and Central Asia that bypasses Pakistan, which does not allow land transit for Indian goods to those regions.

Since 2002, India has been involved in the development of the port, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described as the “Golden Gate”. As the US military continues to strike Iran, Delhi is watching the move closely, Firstpost reported. For New Delhi, the port is strategically important primarily because of its location, as it provides India with an alternative route to Central Asia without relying on transit through Pakistan.

As the conflict escalates, any sustained disruption in Chabahar could have significant implications for regional trade and Iran’s economy.