# Shahid Bagheri

Why Iran’s Navy Appears to Have Been Battered — and What It Means for the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. air strikes in March appear to have destroyed or severely damaged a large portion of Iran’s surface fleet, particularly ships above 1,000 tonnes that were in port or at anchor. The losses expose a strategic mismatch in Tehran’s recent push for larger support vessels and drone carriers, and they shift Iran back toward asymmetric tools—mines, small craft and submarines—to threaten the Strait of Hormuz.