After reported U.S. strike on Iran, IRGC expected to retaliate against American forces in Jordan

Explosions were reportedly heard near Larak Island in Iran’s Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian media offering differing accounts of what happened. Fars quoted residents as saying they heard blasts, but said the precise location and cause remained unclear. Tasnim later reported initial indications of a U.S. drone attack on a site on the island.

U.S. media separately reported that American forces had struck two Iranian missile launchers after monitoring Iranian troops preparing to fire rockets carrying naval mines toward the strait. Larak lies east of Qeshm Island and forms part of Hormozgan province.

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under a kind of pressure from several forces inside the country

Mohammad Eslami, a researcher at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was already “under a kind of pressure from several forces inside the country” over negotiations with the United States. He said the latest strikes on Larak and other IRGC positions would increase that pressure.

“During the last round of escalation, the IRGC actually had the opportunity to launch preemptive attacks against U.S. bases in the region and close the Strait of Hormuz,” Eslami said. He added that the IRGC would seek to cause casualties among U.S. forces and predicted that American troops based in Jordan could become an easy target for an Iranian retaliation.

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During the last round of escalation, the IRGC actually had the opportunity to launch preemptive attacks against U.S. bases in the region and close the Strait of Hormuz