Israeli Air Force aircraft struck Iranian Navy targets at Bandar Anzali port, on Iran’s Caspian Sea coast in Gilan Province, on Wednesday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Thursday. It marked the first time since the start of Operation Roaring Lion that Israeli forces attacked targets in northern Iran.
عاجل الان
تدمير ميناء انزلي علي بحر قزوين في شمال ايران طبعا هذا الميناء محتل من قبل ايران و هو ملك الشعب الكيلكي العزيز pic.twitter.com/4NV8IH8OlJ— hamid mutasher (@HamedMusher) March 18, 2026
The IDF said the operation was “guided by the Navy and Military Intelligence.” Dozens of vessels were destroyed at the port, including four missile ships equipped with air defenses and anti-submarine missiles and one corvette warship.
⚓️🎯IRANIAN NAVAL INFRASTRUCTURE STRUCK IN THE CASPIAN SEA
Targets included:
• Iranian Navy vessels, including missile ships, support vessels boats, & guard ships.
• A port command center from which Iranian Navy forces controlled naval operations
• Central infrastructure…— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 19, 2026
Strikes also hit a central Iranian Navy command center and infrastructure used for vessel repair and maintenance, the IDF stated.
“Striking this infrastructure deepens the damage to the regime’s capabilities and undermines the Iranian Navy’s control over the maritime space in the Caspian Sea,” the IDF stated
A senior IDF Navy officer said the strikes had “deprived them of capability for years to come.”
Bandar Anzali is the main base for the Iranian Navy’s northern fleet and the primary Iranian terminal on a weapons supply corridor that Tehran and Moscow have used since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Iranian and Russian vessels have routinely transferred drones, missiles, and ammunition along the route between Anzali, the Iranian port of Amirabad, and the Russian port of Astrakhan.
Reports also indicate Russia has been supplying Iran through the corridor with the Geran-2, an upgraded variant of the Iranian Shahed drone fitted with improved communications, navigation, and targeting systems. SOFX has not independently verified those reports.
The Caspian strikes were part of a broader IDF campaign. The IDF announced it struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran over the preceding 24 hours, including ballistic missile storage and production sites, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) facilities, air defense systems, and a gas facility in Bushehr.
IDF: Over 200 Iranian terror regime targets were struck in the past day The IDF continues to degrade the Iranian terror regime ballistic missile array and defense systems in western and central Iran. Over the past day, dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck over 200…
— Inside_Israel_Intel (@inside_IL_intel) March 18, 2026
