The United States military said Sunday it had struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first US attack on Iran since late July.
A US Central Command spokesman said the strikes targeted two launchers that Revolutionary Guards were preparing to use to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the strategic waterway.
The action came just after the US-Iran conflict reached its six-month mark, a period in which hostilities had been easing. In recent weeks, the Trump administration had focused on economic pressure rather than military operations against Tehran.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea lane that carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil before the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28.
Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesman, said last week that the command had finished clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes.
He added that US forces were monitoring the area closely and remained ready to protect the free flow of commerce through the waterway.
Diplomatic efforts led by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar have so far failed to end the war.
A ceasefire was agreed in April, and a memorandum of understanding toward a final peace deal was signed in June, but no comprehensive agreement has been reached. Washington has since declared a policy of economic warfare against Iran.
A US naval counterblockade of Iranian ports is squeezing petrol supplies in Iran, which faces a domestic production shortfall, as the US intensifies pressure on its adversary.
The April ceasefire ended the heaviest fighting, but sporadic attacks, mainly around the Strait of Hormuz, have dimmed hopes for a permanent peace.
In a statement on Friday, Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the war.
Reed said that six months in, not a single objective had been achieved and that the president had significantly weakened the US position in the Middle East and the world.
Source: informationng.com