The United States and Iran have exchanged strikes after US forces targeted two rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island, in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said it had taken limited and precise action against minelaying forces that it said posed an imminent threat in the waterway. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack killed two people and wounded two others, and pledged a response.
The operation was the first known US strike on Iran since President Donald Trump paused a renewed military campaign in late July. Larak Island lies near the port of Bandar Abbas and alongside the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically significant route for shipping.
Iran later said it launched ballistic missiles at the King Hussein and al-Azraq US bases in Jordan in response to the Larak Island attack. Jordan’s military said it intercepted eight missiles early on Monday.
Iranian state television also reported that the Iranian army had used drones against an air base in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE Defence Ministry rejected reports that Al-Minhad Air Base had been targeted, while confirming that it had shot down a drone.
Dispute over Strait of Hormuz
Iran has been demanding that tanker traffic pass near Larak Island for checks and has reportedly required vessels to pay $2 million to cross. Before the war began, about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travelled through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said last week that all mines Iran had placed in the strait had been removed or detonated, and warned that any vessel deploying further mines would be destroyed. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi described that assertion as propaganda.
Washington announced a new sanctions campaign against Iran on 24 August and has continued a naval blockade that has affected Iranian oil exports. Central Command said on Saturday that it had disabled three vessels, boarded two and redirected 82 during the blockade.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the US action on Larak Island and described the reported strikes on bases in Jordan as legitimate defence. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was not seeking war but would respond decisively to aggressors, according to state television.
Source: BBC News
