WASHINGTON — U.S. forces launched strikes Sunday against Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz, marking Washington’s first confirmed military action against Iran in a month and ending a brief pause in a sporadic conflict now stretching beyond six months. Tehran quickly promised retaliation, describing the strike as a deadly assault.
Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, said Revolutionary Guard Corps forces had been seen preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the critical waterway. The operation followed the U.S. military’s completion last week of efforts to clear sea mines from international shipping lanes in the strait.
Iranian semiofficial media reported explosions in the vicinity of Larak island, which sits along the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement broadcast by Iranian state media, the Revolutionary Guard acknowledged “the martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots.”
Hours later, Iranian state television aired footage it said showed Iran firing ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Jordan in response to the American attack. Jordan’s armed forces said early Monday that they had intercepted eight missiles after they entered the country’s airspace.
Any renewed slide into direct combat could sharply raise tensions across the region. Since the war began Feb. 28, Iran has repeatedly targeted U.S. military installations and key infrastructure in Gulf states.
The last confirmed U.S. strike on Iranian targets came July 29, when the military said it carried out a “heavy wave of strikes” against dozens of Revolutionary Guard sites, including coastal surveillance and defense positions. On Aug. 1, President Donald Trump said he would pause further strikes after appeals from Gulf partners Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The US had turned to economic pressure
Sunday’s operation also came only days after the Trump administration signaled a shift toward intensified economic pressure instead of military escalation as it seeks to end the war with Iran. That approach relies heavily on threats of penalties against any nation or organization that continues doing business with Tehran.
Gen. Hossein Mohebi, a Revolutionary Guard spokesperson, called the strike a “fatal mistake by the Trump regime during the economic war,” according to Iranian media, warning that Iran’s enemies would face consequences on both military and economic fronts.
The U.S. turn to using sanctions came as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, sparking concerns that the prolonged conflict could undermine U.S. military readiness in other parts of the globe.
As the conflict grinds on, Trump’s talk of finding a quick end to the war also appears to be fading. He stressed last week that he’s “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues making the case that the Islamic Republic’s leadership is on the ropes.
Appointments to Iran’s senior security leadership in the past month, however, have signaled Tehran’s defiance after weathering decades of sanctions as well as a lack of tolerance for dissent at home.
Trump has consistently emphasized that the U.S. and Israel campaign has been devastating for Iran’s navy and air force. Iranian officials have said the country has suffered $270 billion in direct and indirect damage. Israeli military strikes in the first weeks of the war wiped out much of the theocratic government’s leadership structure.
Iran leans on the strait for leverage
But Iran has found leverage through its strikes against vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, where relatively few ships carrying oil and liquefied natural gas are risking passage. Iran still has enough drones and missiles to fire at vessels transiting the waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.
Crude oil prices rose Sunday in response to the U.S. attack. The price for a barrel of U.S. oil went up 1.8% to $84.94, while the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.9% to $89.79.
Tehran continues to assert that even after it works out a management plan for the strait with Oman, its neighbor on the other side of the waterway, the U.S. can’t use it until it fulfills its obligations under the memorandum of understanding the countries signed in mid-June.
Trump has repeatedly declared that the “Strait of Hormuz is open,” saying 24 vessels passed through last week. But that’s a fraction of the roughly 130 vessels that transited 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.”
And a monitoring agency run by the British military said an unknown projectile struck a tanker ship on Saturday north of Khasab, Oman, in the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said no casualties or environmental impact had been reported, and cited unspecified military authorities. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The U.S. military said that as of Sunday, it had redirected 83 commercial vessels and disabled three under its blockade of Iranian ports.
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Toropin reported from Nuremberg, Germany. Anna reported from Lowville, New York. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.
