Widespread Communications Disruption and Road Closures in Hormozgan Following Overnight Attacks
Hormozgan Province has faced communications disruptions and road restrictions following attacks on Saturday morning, July 18. The provincial director of communications reported that 116 telecommunications towers have been knocked offline and mobile phone, landline, and internet services have been cut or disrupted in parts of north Bandar Abbas and Hajji Abad County, while U.S. military officials stated that the attack targets were infrastructure related to Iran’s military capabilities.
Ahed Qoydel, director general of communications for Hormozgan Province, announced on Saturday, July 18, that following overnight U.S. attacks, 116 telecommunications towers in the province have been taken offline and parts of telecommunications services in the northern areas of Bandar Abbas and Hajji Abad County have been disrupted.
According to this government official, in some areas, landline, mobile phone, and internet services have experienced outages, with the main cause being damage to communications transmission routes in the Mirzayee Tunnel area.
Qoydel explained that the fiber optic data transmission route connecting Bandar Abbas to Hajji Abad has been disrupted following damage to the Mirzayee Tunnel and Shour River Bridge. He added that technical teams from within Hormozgan Province and neighboring provinces have been deployed for repairs and restoration of communications to the region, and alternative solutions are being implemented to temporarily restore communications services.
Simultaneously, the head of the Traffic Police of the Islamic Republic’s Law Enforcement Command announced that following damage to several bridges and communications routes in Hormozgan Province, a number of exit routes from the province toward Fars and Kerman have been temporarily closed.
Ahmad Karmi Asad said on Saturday morning, July 18: “Heavy vehicle traffic on these routes is not possible until further notice, and the road police and highway organization are attempting to reopen at least one passageway for light vehicle traffic.”
According to his statement, a secondary route for light vehicles from Bandar Abbas toward Fars and Kerman has been activated, but full reopening of the routes depends on the completion of safety operations and repair of damaged infrastructure.
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that in the overnight attacks, which continued until 5 a.m. on Saturday, the targets included radar and surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and Iran’s maritime capabilities.
In contrast, officials of the Islamic Republic have characterized the attacks as targeting non-military infrastructure and disrupting the lives of civilians.
Tasnim News Agency, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that on the seventh night of U.S. attacks, two bridges on the Bandar Abbas-Rudan route were targeted and the route was damaged. The agency also reported that several people were killed and wounded, but no official independent statistics on the number of casualties and extent of damage have been released to date.
The Hormozgan governorate also announced that the Mirzayee Tunnel on the transit route has been closed, the Shour River Bridge on the Bandar Abbas to Sirjan route has been damaged, and the bridge on the Minab three-way junction toward Rudan has also been targeted by attacks. The governorate requested citizens to refrain from traveling these routes until further notice.
Additionally, in an attack on Lark Island, the maritime surveillance tower on the island was struck by a missile. Earlier, the Hormozgan governorate had reported a target hit in this area during the early morning hours.
While reports indicate damage to parts of Hormozgan’s communications and transportation infrastructure, an independent assessment of the extent of damage and long-term impacts of these attacks on public services in the province has not yet been released.
