US forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday, a US official said, in the first known American strike on Iran since late July.
The official said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps troops had been observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping channel that carries a large share of the world’s seaborne oil trade. The strike, the official said, was intended to stop that operation before the mines could be deployed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and civilians. Tehran did not release a full casualty figure. Larak Island sits in the Persian Gulf near the mouth of the strait, close to the port of Bandar Abbas.
The strike ended a lull of several weeks in direct US-Iran hostilities. The last major American operations against Iranian targets were carried out in late July, after which Tehran reported the first pause in strikes in two weeks as diplomatic contacts continued.
The Strait of Hormuz has been a recurring flashpoint through the current confrontation. Roughly 20 percent of global oil supply passes through the waterway, and any move to mine or close it carries immediate consequences for energy markets and shipping.
Washington framed Sunday’s action as preemptive and limited in scope, targeting only the two launchers rather than broader military infrastructure. Iranian state media described the strike as an act of aggression against Iranian territory.
Analysts remain divided over the effect of the sustained US air campaign. Trita Parsi, co-founder of the Washington-based Quincy Institute and an expert on US-Iranian relations, has argued that earlier strikes strengthened the government’s domestic position rather than weakening it, and did not produce the internal unrest some in Washington anticipated.
Neither side has confirmed whether the strike would prompt renewed exchanges. Iran has previously responded to US operations with missile launches against American and allied positions in the region.
The two governments have alternated between military action and indirect talks for much of the year. It was not immediately clear whether Sunday’s strike would affect those channels.