In the first known US military strikes since late July, a US official said forces attacked two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. “US forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said on Monday.
Iran, in a statement carried by Iran’s state broadcaster, claimed several Revolutionary Guards and Iranian civilians were killed and injured in the US strike on Larak Island.
Quick answers to key questions
What prompted the US military strikes on Larak Island?⌵
The US military strikes on Larak Island were prompted by Iranian forces laying mines in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, which the US Central Command identified as an imminent threat.
Why is Larak Island strategically important in the US-Iran conflict?⌵
Larak Island is strategically important because it overlooks shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for global energy supplies, and serves as a monitoring point for Iranian military activities.
How did Iran respond to the US strikes on Larak Island?⌵
In response to the US strikes, Iran launched ballistic missiles at US bases in Jordan, specifically targeting the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases.
What are the implications of US sanctions on Banque Misr regarding Iran?⌵
The US sanctions on Banque Misr’s UAE branches aim to cut off Iran’s access to the US financial system, targeting the bank for allegedly facilitating financial activities linked to Iran.
How does the US plan to increase sanctions against Iran in the future?⌵
The US plans to impose new sanctions on various entities, including banks, on a weekly basis to intensify economic pressure on Iran and isolate its financial networks.
In retaliation, Iran remained defiant and launched ballistic missiles at two US bases in Jordan. The said the combined missile and drone operation, which it called “Punishment of the Aggressor,” hit the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan. Jordan reported intercepting eight missiles soon after the IRGC announced the attack.
Later, on Monday, Iran said it launched attacks at the UAE, targeting “the areas where US helicopters and personnel are stationed at Al Minhad Base, using dozens of attack drones,” state TV reported. The army said the strikes were in retaliation for a US attack on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange of attacks is the first flare-up in violence between Iran and the US since late July. The last time the US military confirmed targeting Iran was on July 29, when it announced a “heavy wave of strikes” on dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets.
Besides military attacks said the US is planning new secondary sanctions every week. His comments came days after the US imposed penalties on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr over alleged financial links to Iran.
Why did the US target Larak Island in Iran? Why did Iran specifically target Jordan in retaliation? And what do US sanctions on banks mean?
Why did US strike Larak Island? Why is this island important?
On Monday, the US military denied that its Sunday attacks on the Larak island were an “act of aggression”. said on X that the US took “limited, precise action” to prevent Iranian forces from laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz and blamed Iran for the attacks.
Larak Island is a strategically important small island in the near the port of Bandar Abbas, overlooking shipping lanes at the mouth of the Gulf. Larak is on the east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island.
The island of Larak, located about 660 km (410 miles) east of Kharg Island, is central to Iran’s monitoring of the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported. It thus plays a key role in tensions over Iran, maritime security, and global energy supplies.
Sina Azodi, director of the Middle East Studies programme at George Washington University, told Al Jazeera that the US struck Larak Island because “I believe it’s where Iran has dispersed its assets to control the .
He was quoted as saying that the US was trying to degrade, not just Iran’s capacity to strike them, but also its ability to monitor and surveil the ships passing through Hormuz.
Azodi said the island fits a pattern going back to July, when the entire southern shore of Iran was on the US target list.
He said the US claim that Iran was preparing to lay mines was plausible, adding that he “would not be surprised if they wanted to assert their power and control over the strait”.
Why did Iran target Jordan in retaliatory attacks?
When asked whether Iran had been waiting for an opening to hit Jordan, Sina Azodi said Tehran’s war plans “were formed in advance”.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride analysed the latest escalation of the conflict, saying that Jordan has been “very much on the front line of the fighting” since February, with missiles exchanged between Israel and Iran crossing its airspace, and some intercepted over its territory.
Moreover, hosts about 4,000 US personnel at two main bases, Azraq and King Hussein airbase, along with drones, fighter jets and Patriot air defences, the report added.
Forces have been moved there from more exposed Gulf positions because it “keeps them still in theatre but not in such a vulnerable position”, McBride was quoted as saying.
That has also made the country a repeated target, Al Jazeera reported. Its bases have been hit before, and several American casualties in the war have occurred there.
Amman, the capital and largest city of Jordan, is a close US ally, and gains financially from the bases, though its relationship with Israel “leaves a lot to be desired”, said McBride. Like many Gulf states, McBride said, it is coming to terms with the cost of hosting American forces.
“As well as an asset, it can at times, as we have seen, also become a liability,” he said.
The return to hostilities came soon after the Trump administration stepped up efforts to punish Iran and its business partners with economic sanctions.
The US launched last week the launch of ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, seeking to squeeze any remaining revenue sources that still provide funding to the Iranian government.
US sanctions against banks
On Friday, the US Treasury Department moved to cut off the United Arab Emirates (UAE) branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr from the US financial system as part of sanctions against Iran.
Banque Misr is Egypt’s second-largest bank. The move impacts UAE branches of the bank, blocking their banking access to US financial institutions.
The Treasury called Banque Misr a “key financial lifeline” for the regime because it allegedly processed around $1.8 billion for 103 companies that could potentially be part of Iranian shadow banking networks.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press on Sunday President Donald Trump’s administration plans to impose sanctions on another bank this week as it intensifies efforts to economically isolate Iran.
“This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” Bessent said in the interview. “We are showing people that we know who you are, you know who you are, and this has got to stop,” he added.
Later, Bessent told Reuters the US Treasury Department is likely to unveil weekly new secondary sanctions aimed at increasing economic pressure on Iran, with an initial focus on banks.
“You’re going to see a lot more of these every week,” Bessent said ahead of a Group of 20 finance leaders meeting. “We’re starting with the banks, and we’re telling the banks it’s not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime.”
Bessent said he intends to drive the message home to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors to cut economic ties to Iran, or face secondary sanctions.
About Iran-US war
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. The war in Iran has now been going on for six months.
US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions of people. Eighteen US service members have been killed in the conflict, reports claimed.
The war has led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict was used to transit about a fifth of the world’s oil supply. The waterway carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before it was blockaded in the six-month-old Iran war.
While Trump has repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz is open, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ navy had called those statements “an obvious lie”, reiterating that it remained closed to ships without Iranian permission.
(With inputs from agencies)
