U.S. Hits IRGC Mine-Rocket Launchers on Larak Island; Iran Fires on American Bases in Jordan

U.S. forces struck two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launchers on Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday after Central Command said Guard units were preparing to fire rockets loaded with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. It was the first publicly acknowledged American strike on Iranian forces since late July. Iran said soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded and answered with ballistic missiles and drones against King Hussein and Muwaffaq Salti (Al-Azraq) air bases in Jordan. Jordan’s armed forces said they intercepted eight missiles. Oil jumped more than 2 percent Monday, with Brent back above $90 a barrel.

Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesman, said: “I can confirm that earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz.” He added that U.S. forces were monitoring the waterway and “remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce.” Tasnim, an IRGC-affiliated outlet, reported a drone strike. The Guards said the attack killed and wounded “several” soldiers and citizens; Tasnim separately put the figure at two dead and two wounded. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi called the raid a “strategic and fatal mistake by the Trump regime” and said the United States would “pay the consequences” economically and militarily. Fars quoted the Guards promising “response and punishment.” Larak sits in the strait about 20 miles south of the Iranian mainland near Bandar Abbas. President Trump said last week that the Navy had detonated or removed mines from the strait’s international shipping lanes and that any vessel placing new mines would be “immediately and systematically destroyed.” The last known U.S. strikes on Iran were in late July, after a pause in the campaign that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

The IRGC said its aerospace force launched a combined missile-and-drone operation early Monday against King Hussein and Al-Azraq, describing hits on technical and maintenance infrastructure and fighter hangars and claiming “heavy damage.” Those damage claims were not independently confirmed. Jordan’s army said air defenses intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace and destroyed them before they threatened populated areas. A U.S. source told Fox News that nearly all incoming missiles had been intercepted and that there had been no significant impact so far. CENTCOM did not immediately issue a detailed battle-damage assessment of the Jordanian bases. The war is in its seventh month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week launched Operation Economic Outcast, threatening secondary sanctions on governments and firms that keep doing business with Tehran. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported a tanker struck by a projectile inbound through Hormuz on Aug. 29. Visible commodity traffic through the strait fell to about five vessels a day over the weekend, shipping data showed. Brent rose $2.22, or 2.52 percent, to $90.32; WTI rose $2.01, or 2.41 percent, to $85.41 in early Monday trade as markets re-priced mining risk after a month-long lull in disclosed U.S. strikes on Iranian territory.