US forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was seen preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the vital shipping channel, a US official said.
The attack was the first known US strike on Iranian territory since late July, ending a month-long lull in direct military action during a conflict that has continued intermittently for more than six months. The official spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive military movements. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/6b098da673ac3161a266ee459d5eff44?utm_source=openai))
Iranian semi-official news agencies reported explosions near Larak Island, off the southern coast of the country. Tasnim described the incident as a drone attack, while Fars said residents had heard a blast but that its precise location and cause were initially unclear.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said several of its fighters and civilians had been killed or wounded. It did not provide a precise casualty figure but warned that the attack would be met with a response and “punishment of the aggressor”. ([aa.com.tr](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-s-revolutionary-guards-say-us-attack-on-larak-island-killed-and-injured-several-vows-response/4042023?utm_source=openai))
The US military said last week that it had finished clearing sea mines from international shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway, between Iran and Oman, normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies and has become a central pressure point in the war.
Strait of Hormuz shipping remains at reduced levels
Commercial traffic through the strait remains sharply below its pre-war level. Donald Trump has repeatedly said the waterway is open and claimed that 24 vessels crossed it last week, but that is a fraction of the roughly 130 vessels that passed through each day before the conflict began.
A multinational maritime coalition overseen by the US Navy said on Sunday that commercial movements remained at reduced levels. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organisation also said an unidentified projectile struck a tanker north of Khasab, Oman, on Saturday.
The tanker was travelling inbound, according to UKMTO, which said there had been no reported casualties or environmental damage. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident.
The latest strike came days after the Trump administration said it intended to rely more heavily on economic pressure, including sanctions against countries and companies continuing to trade with Tehran, rather than launch further military operations.
That shift has been linked to concerns over US munitions stocks after months of fighting and the potential effect of a prolonged conflict on American military readiness elsewhere. Trump said last week that he was “not in a hurry” to bring Iran back to negotiations, despite previously speaking of a swift end to the war.
Iran has suffered extensive damage during the conflict, according to officials in Tehran, while the US and Israel have said their campaign has severely weakened the country’s navy, air force and senior leadership. The continued threat to shipping through Hormuz, however, gives Iran a means of disrupting international energy supplies even as its forces come under sustained pressure.
