US and Iran Trade Strikes in First Escalation in a Month

The US struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, and Iran fired missiles at US targets in Jordan and the UAE, ending a month-long lull.

US and Iranian forces traded attacks overnight into Monday for the first time in over a month, breaking weeks of relative military calm in the six-month-old war. US Central Command said it struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, a small landmass off Bandar Abbas, where forces were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM described the operation as "limited, precise action" against "minelaying forces posing an imminent threat," saying "Iran created the threat and the US military eliminated it." Residents reported hearing an explosion near the island, and Iranian state media reported casualties among Iranian forces and civilians.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps called the US strike "a strategic and deadly mistake" by the Trump administration and vowed retaliation. By Monday morning, Iran claimed it had targeted US bases in Jordan and the UAE with ballistic missiles. Jordan's armed forces said air defenses intercepted and destroyed eight missiles that entered the kingdom's airspace, neutralizing them before they could threaten civilians or property. The UAE separately said it intercepted a drone approaching from Iran over its territorial waters. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is "not seeking war" but is "capable of delivering a decisive response" in the face of aggression.

The exchange came just days after President Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz free from mines, warning last Tuesday that "any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed." CENTCOM says it completed clearing mines from the waterway's international shipping routes last week. It is also a break with Washington's recent focus on economic pressure rather than military action — the first US strikes on Iran since July 29, when the US completed a "heavy wave of strikes" after an attempted attack on American positions. The Treasury is threatening an "economic D-Day" of sanctions, and per Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's comments to Reuters, weekly secondary sanctions on banks are likely.

Six months into the conflict, the US and Iran have been locked in a contest over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint critical to global energy supplies that carried one-fifth of the world's oil before the war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Tehran asserts a claimed right to manage the waterway with regular strikes on vessels, while Washington has sought to keep traffic flowing by guiding ships and running a military blockade of Iranian ports. Iran's closure of the strait has caused price hikes and shortages of energy and fertiliser around the world, and a US naval counterblockade is squeezing petrol supplies inside Iran during a domestic production shortfall.

Markets reacted quickly: Brent crude rose 2.8% to $90.57 a barrel and US crude climbed 2.7% to $85.64. Diplomatically, talks between Washington and Tehran have stalled, with the White House saying Thursday that no negotiations are ongoing. Iran and Oman continue discussions over a proposed arrangement to restore maritime traffic through the strait, backed by regional mediators including Qatar, though Iranian officials link navigation to broader talks with Washington. The war remains deeply unpopular with the US public with midterm elections looming in November; Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a Friday statement that "not a single objective has been achieved."

US officials say forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through the waterway, and Trump has already warned that any new minelaying will be met with immediate destruction — raising the risk of a renewed cycle of strikes and counterstrikes. Pezeshkian was travelling to Kyrgyzstan for a summit of a bloc countering Western influence alongside Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping, per AFP reporting carried by Yahoo News. Diplomatic efforts led by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar produced a ceasefire in April and a memorandum of understanding in June, but no final peace deal has followed, and Sunday's exchange dims those prospects further.