A US official said on Sunday, August 30, that United States forces had targeted two rocket-launching systems belonging to Iran on Lark Island, near the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the US official, members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been observed preparing to launch rockets carrying naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz, and the US attack was carried out to prevent this action. US officials described the operation as the first known direct US attack against Iranian positions since late July.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the attack was carried out by a drone and that a number of military personnel and civilians were killed and wounded as a result. The IRGC also threatened that the attack would face a “response and punishment” from Tehran.
According to published reports, US officials said that targeting these systems was linked to concerns over the possible use of rockets carrying naval mines and the threat to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The attack comes as tensions between Iran and the United States have once again increased after several weeks of relative de-escalation. Following the US attack on Lark Island, Iran responded by launching missiles toward positions of US forces in Jordan; US officials said that most of these missiles had been intercepted.
The exact number of people killed and wounded in the attack on Lark Island, as well as the extent of damage to Iran’s military systems, has not yet been independently verified.
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