The United States and Iran have exchanged direct military strikes for the first time since late July.
US Central Command confirmed it had taken “limited, precise action” against what it described as “minelaying forces posing an imminent threat” on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the drone strikes killed two people and wounded two others. The IRGC also claimed it had shot down a US drone over the strait.
Iran responded within hours. Iranian state media reported that the IRGC launched ballistic missiles at the US bases of King Hussein and al-Azraq in Jordan. Jordan’s army confirmed it had intercepted eight incoming missiles early on Monday morning. The IRGC claimed the strikes caused “heavy damage,” targeting technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities, and fighter jet positions.
Larak Island
Larak Island sits directly offshore from the strategic port of Bandar Abbas at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has been directing tanker traffic past the island for inspection and reportedly charging vessels approximately two million dollars to cross. Trump had stated last week that all mines placed by Iran in the strait had been detonated or removed. Further warning that any vessel caught deploying new ones would be destroyed. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed that claim as “propaganda.”
The IRGC’s spokesman Hossein Mohebbi called the US strike a “strategic and fatal mistake by the Trump regime,” vowing that “the enemy will pay the consequences of this miscalculation in both the economic and military fields.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a slightly different tone, saying Iran was “not seeking war” but would “deliver a decisive response to the aggressors.”
Hours after the strikes, Trump posted AI-generated videos on Truth Social showing oil infrastructure being destroyed, with one post captioned “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens,” referencing the major Iranian oil terminal he has repeatedly threatened to seize. He offered no further elaboration.
The exchange follows a fresh US sanctions campaign announced on August 24. One targeting Iran’s economic partners and expanding secondary sanctions against allies that continue trading with Tehran. Iranian officials have largely dismissed the measures as an extension of existing pressure.
READ ALSO: https://alo360.net/canada-installs-sign-despite-trumps-renaming-of-lake-ontario/
