U.S. Strikes Another Iranian Shahid Soleimani-Class Missile Corvette Near Bandar Lengeh

United States forces have struck another Iranian missile corvette from the Shahid Soleimani class in the Persian Gulf, according to open-source reports.

The vessel, identified as IRIS Haj Qasem, was reportedly hit on March 8, 2026, while anchored off Bandar Lengeh on Iran’s southern coast.

Visual analysis of footage shared on social media confirmed the identity of the catamaran-style warship.

Open-source claims suggested that three vessels were targeted in the strike, although only the Shahid Soleimani-class corvette has been visually confirmed so far.

Images and video footage circulating online appear to show an explosion on a vessel believed to belong to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).

The footage was shared by the OSNITdefender account, which said the blast happened after a US strike off the coast of Bandar Lengeh.

Footage shows a vessel with the Iranian Naval Forces, believed to likely be a Shahid Soleimani-class missile corvette operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), explode today off the coast of Bandar Lengeh in the Persian Gulf, following a strike by the United… pic.twitter.com/H7JjZRKJEt

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 9, 2026

The vessel is believed to be IRIS Haj Qasem, one of the missile corvettes in Iran’s Shahid Soleimani class. Open-source reports indicated that two other vessels may also have been struck, but their identities have not been officially confirmed.

Bandar Lengeh lies along the northern coast of the Persian Gulf and sits close to major shipping routes used by oil tankers and cargo vessels moving through the region.

The Shahid Soleimani-class is among the most modern surface combatant designs in Iran’s naval forces. The ships use a composite catamaran hull, a twin-hull design intended to lower radar visibility and maintain stability at high speed.

Each vessel measures about 65 meters in length, with a beam of roughly 14.5 meters and a displacement of around 600 tons.

The ships can reach speeds of up to 45 knots, making them some of the fastest missile-armed vessels in Iran’s fleet. They are equipped with several missile systems, including Nawab cruise missiles, Sayyad cruise missiles, and the Sayyad-3G surface-to-air missile, a long-range naval air-defence system that was publicly demonstrated during exercises in February 2026.

Iran introduced the class as part of efforts to deploy larger and more heavily armed vessels while continuing to operate its traditional fleet of fast-attack craft.

According to open-source reports, the lead ship IRIS Soleimani was reportedly sunk on March 3. A day later, the corvette IRIS Shahid Sayyad Shirazi was seen burning near Bandar Abbas after another strike.

The strikes are linked to Operation Epic Fury, a joint military campaign launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026.

According to US Central Command, more than 30 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed since the start of the operation.

Reported targets include the Jamaran-class frigate sunk at Chah Bahar, the drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bahman Bagheri, and the forward base ship IRINS Makran, which was seen burning at Bandar Abbas.

Analysts following the campaign said that several attacks have targeted ships while they were anchored in port, where they are more vulnerable to air and missile strikes.

During the same period, another Iranian naval vessel was lost far from the Persian Gulf. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on March 4 that US forces had sunk an Iranian warship named Soleimani, referring to a vessel named after Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020.

He said the ship had been destroyed during a US naval operation.

The incident was linked to a US submarine strike that torpedoed the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, about 19 nautical miles south of the Sri Lankan port of Galle.

Per reports, around 180 crew members were aboard the vessel. When Sri Lankan naval responders arrived at the scene, they recovered 87 bodies and found an oil slick, empty life rafts and sailors in the water.

References: news18, navalnews