Iran warns US nearing 'zero hour' for operation against CENTCOM naval units

• US destroys IRGC surveillance tower at Chabahar port, says attacks will continue until calm returns to Hormuz

 TEHRAN: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy warned on Friday that the US was moving closer to the “zero hour” for a potential Iranian military operation against US Central Command (CENTCOM) naval units in regional waters.

In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the IRGC Navy Command said the movements and military equipment of US forces were “under surveillance” by Iran’s naval units.

“The Americans are drawing closer by the moment to the zero hour of an operation by Iran’s Armed Forces against CENTCOM naval units in the region’s waters,” it said.

The command concluded its statement with the warning: “Wait and see.”

Earlier, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that US forces destroyed a surveillance tower at Iran's Shahid Kalantari Port in Chabahar on July 16, describing it as part of a maritime surveillance network used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) along Iran's Gulf of Oman coastline.

According to CENTCOM, the surveillance network had been used for decades by the IRGC to monitor commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The US military claimed the strike would degrade the IRGC's ability to coordinate attacks on civilian merchant ships.

CENTCOM further said the operation was intended to protect freedom of navigation in regional waters, while maintaining what it described as the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran.

Separately, the US military has denied Iran’s claims of killing US soldiers in Syria, according to a CENTCOM post on X.

Iran said it had killed US troops stationed at a base in al-Tanf on the Syria-Jordan border. Syria said there’s been no Iranian attacks on the US base which US forces left in February.

IRGC commander says attacks will continue until calm returns to Hormuz

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Commander Seyed Majid Mousavi said on Friday that the Iranian attacks will continue “until calm returns to the southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz”, Al Jazeera reported.

“In the system of calculations, the entire territory of Iran — from Tehran to the south — is one and the same. Effective and targeted strikes from across Iran against the enemy will continue until calm returns to the southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz,” he said in a statement carried by Iranian state TV.

Iran says major roads reopened, traffic restored hours after US strikes

Iran's Road Maintenance and Transportation Organisation said all major roads across the country remain open and traffic has resumed on sections damaged in overnight US strikes, according to Press TV. In a statement on X, the organisation said road maintenance teams restored traffic on affected routes, including several bridges in southern Iran, within 12 hours of the attacks.

It added that temporary bypasses had been constructed around damaged sections, allowing vehicles to continue using the affected roads. "Despite the enemy's savage attacks on transportation infrastructure, all road routes across the country remain open and traffic is flowing," the statement said.

 Several military personnel injured in Iranian strikes: Kuwait

The Kuwaiti military said several personnel have been “wounded as a result of enemy drones targeting several facilities and camps affiliated with the Kuwaiti Army this morning, following the heinous Iranian aggression”.

Israel using US taxpayer dollars to silence any US critics: Iran's Araghchi

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took a dig at the US government, reiterating the warning of Israeli interference in Washington’s foreign policy and domestic politics.

“Americans are being warned of Foreign Influence. How about the extensive Israeli Campaign to bamboozle the US Administration into an unwinnable war of choice?” Araghchi wrote in a post on X.

Araghchi referred to an article in Time magazine that reported Trump’s former presidential campaign manager, Brad Parscale, running an Israeli influence operation targeting the MAGA base.

“Even worse: Israel is using US taxpayer dollars to silence any US critics,” he wrote. “It will all soon unravel.”