U.S. forces attacked two Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, according to a US official, in the first publicly identified American strike inside Iranian territory since late July.
U.S. Central Command said the launchers were targeted after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel were seen preparing to launch sea mine rockets into the Strait of Hormuz.
The strike added a new flashpoint to the U.S.-Iran conflict just after the war passed six months, despite a recent easing in direct military exchanges. Larak Island lies near Bandar Abbas and beside the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping corridors.
U.S. Centcom said the operation was intended to stop Iran from placing additional sea mines in the waterway. The U.S. had recently said explosives in the strait had been cleared after Iranian efforts to block the route.
President Donald Trump said last week that mines Iran had placed in the Strait of Hormuz had either been removed or detonated. He also said Tehran had been warned that any vessel used to deploy more mines would be destroyed.
IRGC said the U.S. strike caused multiple casualties and promised retaliation. Its spokesperson described the attack as a serious strategic error by the Trump administration and said the U.S. would face consequences economically and militarily.
Iranian state media later reported that the IRGC had fired ballistic missiles at U.S. military targets in Jordan. State television said the strikes were aimed at technical infrastructure, maintenance sites and fighter jet positions at the U.S.-operated King Hussein and al-Azraq airbases, and claimed they caused major damage.
Jordan’s military said its air defenses intercepted eight missiles that entered the country’s airspace early Monday.
The latest escalation follows weeks in which the war had appeared to settle into a deadlock. Washington has also threatened heavy penalties against countries supporting Iran.
Iran is under renewed financial pressure after the US announced another sanctions drive on August 24. That campaign is aimed at further isolating Tehran and broadening secondary sanctions against its partners.
The wider war began on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched extensive attacks on Iran. Tehran responded with strikes on Israel, U.S. bases and allied Gulf states, while effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic.
Before the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s consumed oil barrels. The blockade has made the waterway a central economic and military issue in the conflict.
