US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak island in the Strait of Hormuz in an operation described as the first US military action in the region in approximately a month. US Central Military Command (Centcom) confirmed a precision strike against two platforms intended for launching rockets loaded with naval mines that Tehran was preparing to deploy in the strait. Semi-official Iranian media reported sounds of explosions near the Iranian island, which is located in the vicinity of the strategic strait in the Persian Gulf. A US official told CNN that drones were used to carry out the operation.
Forces from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were observed preparing to launch rockets with naval mines into the strait, which Centcom considered to represent an imminent threat. Iran confirmed through state television that there was "the martyrdom and wounding of several fighters and compatriots," with at least two people killed and two others injured in the strike. The Revolutionary Guard stated that the strike would "result in the punishment of the aggressor" and announced the launch of attacks against US military bases in Jordan.
The US refuted the Revolutionary Guard's statement that the strike was "an act of aggression," stating that "Iran created the threat and US armed forces eliminated it to protect civilian sailors, commercial maritime shipping, and the free flow of global trade." The removal of naval mines from international shipping lanes in the strait had been completed by US military forces the previous week.
The war between the United States and Iran has completed six months without Washington managing to eliminate Iran's nuclear program or provoke a regime change in Tehran. The conflict has left in its wake a global energy crisis, worldwide repercussions on the cost of living, an even more unstable Middle East, and a political dilemma with electoral relevance for President Donald Trump, who is vying for control of the US Congress in the November midterm elections.
