U.S. Forces Strike Iranian Rocket Launchers Near Strait of Hormuz in First Action in a Month
U.S. forces struck Iranian Revolutionary Guard rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, marking the first military action in a month. The strike targeted launchers being prepared to deploy sea mines, breaking a lull in a conflict that has lasted over six months.
U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, marking the first American military action against Iran in a month, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The strike targeted Revolutionary Guard Corps positions where forces were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait, the official said.
The operation broke a lull in fighting during an intermittent war that has now lasted more than six months. Semiofficial news outlets in Iran reported sounds of explosions near Larak Island, which sits in the strait. The Revolutionary Guard, in a statement carried by Iran's state broadcaster, acknowledged "the martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots" and said the attack will "result in punishment of the aggressor."
The strike comes just days after the Trump administration said it would shift its focus to increasing economic pressure rather than military action to try to end the war with Iran. The new strategy centers on threatening to punish any country or entity that continues to conduct business with Tehran. The turn toward sanctions comes as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of conflict, raising concerns that the prolonged war could undermine U.S. military readiness in other parts of the globe.
The U.S. military last week completed clearing sea mines from the strait's international shipping routes. However, Iran still possesses enough drones and missiles to fire at vessels transiting the vital energy waterway, through which about 20% of the world's oil normally flows. Iranian forces have effectively controlled much of the traffic in the strait, where relatively few vessels carrying oil and liquefied natural gas are risking passage.
President Trump has repeatedly declared that the "Strait of Hormuz is open," saying 24 vessels passed through last week. But that is a fraction of the roughly 130 vessels that passed through the waterway daily before the war began. Earlier on Sunday, a multinational coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy said commercial traffic through the strait remained at "reduced levels."
A monitoring agency run by the British military reported that an unknown projectile struck a tanker ship on Saturday north of Khasab, Oman, in the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said the ship had been moving inbound and no casualties or environmental impact had been reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Trump's talk of finding a quick end to the war has faded in recent weeks. He stressed last week that he is "not in a hurry" to get Iran back to the negotiating table and continues making the case that the Islamic Republic's leadership is on the ropes. The U.S. and Israel campaign has been devastating for Iran's navy and air force, and Israeli military strikes in the first weeks of the war wiped out much of the theocratic government's leadership structure. Iranian officials have said the country has suffered $270 billion in direct and indirect damage.
