Bandar Abbas is Iran's principal naval installation, on the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz. It houses the headquarters of both Iranian navies: the IRGC Navy headquarters and its 1st Naval District, responsible for the Strait of Hormuz, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy's Forward Southern Fleet headquarters. Constructed in the late 1970s, it took over from Khorramshahr as the navy's headquarters in 1977 and holds the navy's main ship repair yard. It homeports the largest units of both services, including Kilo-class submarines and the forward base ships. The base was struck repeatedly between 28 February and 5 March 2026; satellite imagery showed damage to infrastructure and to vessels at their berths, and a Kilo-class submarine was sunk alongside a pier.
