US strikes Iranian launchers on Larak Island in first known attack in weeks

A US strike on launchers at Larak Island has brought the Strait of Hormuz back into the center of the conflict. The island lies just offshore from Bandar Abbas, beside a waterway used by global shipping.

Iran says the attack killed two people and wounded two others. Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, reported that drones carried out the strike. The account described the casualties as including civilians, while the attack was identified as the first known US strike on Iran since late July.

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strategic and fatal mistake by the Trump regime

Hossein Mohebbi, the IRGC spokesman, called it a “strategic and fatal mistake by the Trump regime” and said the “enemy will pay the consequences of this miscalculation in both the economic and military fields”. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi separately dismissed Donald Trump’s claims about mines in the strait as “propaganda”.

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the enemy will pay the consequences of this miscalculation in both the economic and military fields

The confrontation also has a direct effect on tanker traffic. Iran is currently making tankers pass by Larak for checks and reportedly demanding $2 million for passage. Trump said last week that mines placed by Iran had been removed or detonated and warned that any ship or boat deploying new mines would be destroyed.

The strike followed a new US sanctions campaign announced on Aug. 24. Iranian officials and state media have portrayed the measures as a continuation of earlier economic pressure, which they say followed Washington’s military failure in the recent conflict. The war began with US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, followed by Iranian attacks on Israel, US bases and Gulf allies. About 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas previously moved through the strait.

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propaganda