US strikes Iranian launchers on Larak Island in first known attack in weeks
US forces have struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak island, a US official said, marking the first known American strikes on Iran since late July.
"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz," the BBC's US partner CBS News quoted US Central Command spokesman Cdr Tim Hawkins as saying.
The IRCG said the attack on Sunday killed and wounded several people, and vowed "response and punishment".
This incident comes after US President Donald Trump paused a renewed military campaign against Iran in late July. The US had previously claimed to have cleared all mines from the Strait of Hormuz's main shipping lane this month.
Larak Island is located offshore from the key port of Bandar Abbas, directly on the Strait of Hormuz—a vital waterway for global shipping. Currently, Iran makes tanker traffic pass by Larak Island for inspection and reportedly charges vessels $2 million (£1.5m) to cross.
Hossein Mohebbi, the IRGC's spokesman, referred to the US attack as a "strategic and fatal mistake by the Trump regime" and stated that "the enemy will pay the consequences of this miscalculation in both the economic and military fields".
Iran's Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reported earlier that the attack was carried out by drones. According to their sources, two individuals were killed and two others injured.
Last week, Trump claimed all mines placed in the Strait of Hormuz by Iran had been detonated or removed, warning that any new mines deployed would be destroyed. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected this claim as "propaganda deception".
Iran is facing increasing economic pressure from the US, with fresh sanctions announced on August 24 aiming to further isolate Tehran and expand secondary sanctions against its allies. Iranian officials have dismissed these measures as a continuation of previous US economic actions, following Washington's perceived military failure in recent conflicts.
The Iran-US conflict has now entered its sixth month, during which some 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transit through the Strait of Hormuz before being shipped globally.