(File photo: Xinhua)
Washington, August 31 (IANS) US forces on Sunday (local time) struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, US Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins said, marking the first known US strike against Iran since late July.
"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz," Hawkins said in a statement, adding that the US military was "monitoring the area closely and remains prepared to protect the free flow of commerce" through the strategic waterway.
Larak Island is a small Iranian island located off the coast of Bandar Abbas, east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said multiple military personnel and civilians were killed or wounded Sunday night in a "US-Israeli" attack on Iran's southern Larak Island in Hormozgan province, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a statement published by its official news outlet, Sepah News, the IRGC vowed that the attack would be met with "punishment for the aggressor."
Citing unofficial reports, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said that at least two people were killed and two others injured in what it described as a US "drone attack" on the island.
CNN, citing a US official, said that the US military on Sunday struck the island after observing Iranian forces "preparing to launch mines into the Strait of Hormuz."
The official noted that two Iranian launchers were hit, adding that "US Central Command completed clearing sea mines from the key waterway's international shipping routes last week."
The incident marked the first US attack on Iranian targets in over a month.
An explosion was heard on Iran's southern Larak Island Sunday night, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing local sources.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had issued a stark warning to Tehran following the US military operation to clear mines from the main shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz, saying any ship or boat involved in placing new mines would be "immediately and systematically destroyed".
"There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
