US forces have struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, marking the first known American attack on Iran since late July, when President Trump paused a renewed military campaign. US Central Command said the strike targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units preparing to fire sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route. The IRGC said the attack killed and wounded several people and vowed retaliation, calling it a "strategic and fatal mistake" by the Trump administration.

Larak Island sits just off the port of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has reportedly been forcing tankers to pay $2m (£1.5m) to pass. The strike follows Trump's claim last week that all Iranian mines in the strait had been cleared, which Iranian officials dismissed as "propaganda". It also comes amid fresh US sanctions announced on 24 August aimed at further isolating Tehran, six months after the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran that closed the strait to shipping and disrupted roughly 20% of the world's oil and gas trade.