The United States and Iran have traded strikes for the first time in weeks, deepening tensions after American forces attacked two rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US strikes, the first known American attacks on Iran since late July, killed two people and injured two others, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which vowed “response and punishment”.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it had taken “limited, precise action” against “minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iran subsequently said it had struck US military bases in Jordan in retaliation for the attack on Larak Island.
Jordan’s army said it intercepted eight missiles early on Monday morning.
Separately, Iranian state television reported that the Iranian army had targeted Al-Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates with drones.
However, the UAE’s Ministry of Defence dismissed the report as “unfounded”, while confirming that it had shot down a drone.
Larak Island lies just offshore from the key Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and sits along the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global shipping.
Before the war began, about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travelled through the strategic waterway.
Iran is currently demanding that tanker traffic pass by Larak Island for inspection and has reportedly been forcing vessels to pay $2 million to cross.
Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with the IRGC, earlier reported that drones carried out the attack on Larak Island.
Hours later, Iranian media published an IRGC statement saying the group had attacked the US bases at King Hussein and Al-Azraq in Jordan with ballistic missiles in response to the Larak Island strike.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it “strongly condemned the American military aggression on Larak”, describing the strikes against the US bases in Jordan as a “legitimate defence”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a statement quoted by state television, said: “We are not seeking war, but we will deliver a decisive response to the aggressors,” according to AFP.
Hours after the US strike, US President Donald Trump posted apparent AI-generated videos on Truth Social showing oil infrastructure exploding.
One post was captioned “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!”, referring to a major Iranian oil terminal that Trump has previously threatened to attack. He did not provide further details.
Trump said last week that all mines placed in the Strait of Hormuz by Iran as part of its efforts to blockade the route had either been detonated or removed.
He also warned that any ship or boat deploying new mines would be destroyed.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed Trump’s claim as a “propaganda” deception.
The latest military escalation comes as Iran faces renewed economic pressure from Washington.
The US announced a fresh sanctions campaign on August 24 aimed at further isolating Tehran and expanding secondary sanctions against its allies.
Iranian officials and state media have largely dismissed the measures as a continuation of previous US economic sanctions, arguing that they followed Washington’s military failure in the recent conflict.
The US is also maintaining a naval blockade of Iran, which has restricted the country’s ability to export oil.
On Saturday, Centcom said its forces had disabled three vessels, boarded two and redirected 82 others as part of the blockade.
The latest confrontation follows the wide-ranging US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Iran responded by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf, effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic.
The conflict has now crossed its six-month mark, with the latest exchange of strikes raising fresh concerns over further escalation in the strategically vital region.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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