Konarak naval base: US official calls claim of American strike inaccurate

A US official on Monday, 19 October 2026, called inaccurate the claim by the navy of the Islamic Republic's army that the United States had struck the Konarak naval base. The official, who was not named, told CNN that Washington had not targeted the base in south-eastern Iran. DIAR had earlier published Tehran's claim in its previous report.

With this denial, the Islamic Republic's account of the first American strike in seven weeks rests solely on the word of the army navy's spokesman. As of publication, no independent source had confirmed that a strike took place or the extent of any damage, and the Islamic Republic had presented no further images or evidence from the site.

The army navy's claim

The spokesman for the Islamic Republic army's navy had claimed early on Monday that at around 1 a.m. two light projectiles hit a 35mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun at the Konarak base, wounding two military personnel. Some social media users had spoken, without evidence, of an MQ-9 drone being used; no source confirmed that claim.

Konarak lies in Sistan and Baluchestan province on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, and its naval facilities support the Islamic Republic's operations outside the Strait of Hormuz.

A history of similar claims

This is not the first time Washington has rejected an Islamic Republic claim of an attack on Konarak: in July 2026 state media also reported an attack by "enemy fighter jets" on the Konarak naval military zone, and a US official denied it. The new claim came as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also made several unconfirmed claims about events in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.

The United States called the Islamic Republic's claim of a strike on the Konarak naval base inaccurate.