U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran has been told that any ship or boat placing new mines will be destroyed. He warned of ‘zero tolerance’ for new mines
But U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday, a U.S. official said, marking the first known American strikes on Iran since late July.
Iran responded by attacking U.S. forces stationed in Jordan, according to a Fox News reporter on Sunday, citing a U.S. source. Nearly all incoming missiles “have been intercepted at this point,” the reporter’s X post said, noting that there had been no significant impact so far.
Of the initial U.S. strikes, the U.S. official 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.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and would be met with a “response and punishment” from Tehran, Iranian state media reported.
Other developments
- Pakistan‘s powerful army chief Asim Munir met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Monday, state television reported, as Islamabad tries to mediate a resolution to the Middle East war.
- Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh has predicted “another defeat” for the United States, saying the Islamic republic had a “two-year plan” to counter Washington’s new sanctions.
- But Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has admitted that US sanctions on his country are hurting its economy, despite just days ago insisting they would achieve nothing. “Some say sanctions have no effect at all; to those people, I really don’t know what to say,” Pezeshkian told state TV in an interview late on Friday. “We are in a war situation, and we must accept these wartime conditions,” he added.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran had attempted to assassinate one of his two sons, without offering further details.
