US strikes Iranian launchers in Hormuz, Tehran vows military retaliation

US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, ending a month-long lull in direct military action in a conflict that has continued intermittently for more than six months. Iran quickly vowed to retaliate, calling the strike a deadly attack.

The move marks a fresh escalation in a region already on edge, with the waterway remaining central to the conflict. The latest action came days after the Trump administration had said it would focus on increasing economic pressure on Tehran rather than taking further military action.

According to Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for the US Central Command, forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps were seen preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait. He said the US military had completed operations last week to clear sea mines from international shipping routes in the waterway. Semiofficial news outlets in Iran reported sounds of explosions near Larak island, while the Guard said in a statement carried by state media that there had been "the martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots".