US Strikes Iran’s Larak Island: Why Did Washington Attack and How Has Tehran Responded?

The United States struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz after saying Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was preparing to deploy sea mines in the strategic waterway, bringing Washington and Tehran back into direct military confrontation after weeks without a known US strike on Iran.

Iran has condemned the strike, reported that two people were killed and two injured and warned that the US would face consequences. Hours later, the IRGC said it had launched ballistic missiles at two US bases in Jordan in retaliation for the Larak attack. The developments have once again put the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy supplies, at the centre of the conflict.

Why the US targeted Larak Island

The immediate US justification for the attack was the alleged threat of Iranian sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

A US official told Reuters that American forces had observed IRGC personnel preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait. US Central Command said it had taken “limited, precise” action against Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces involved in minelaying that posed an “imminent threat” in the waterway.

The two launchers targeted by the US were on Larak Island, a small Iranian island near the strategic port of Bandar Abbas and directly on the Strait of Hormuz. Its location gives it a significant position overlooking shipping routes at the entrance to the Gulf, Reuters reported.

The threat of mines is particularly important because they can disrupt commercial shipping without Iran having to directly attack individual vessels. Washington has said it is trying to keep the waterway open amid the ongoing conflict and that mines placed in the strait had been detonated or removed.

US President Donald Trump said last week that Iran had been warned that any ship or boat attempting to deploy new mines would be destroyed.

The BBC reported that Iran was also making tanker traffic pass by Larak for checks and was reportedly requiring vessels to pay $2 million to cross the waterway. Iran has disputed US claims that the Strait of Hormuz has been reopened to normal international shipping.

Reuters reported that the number of visible commodity vessels travelling through the strait fell to about five a day over the weekend. The actual number could be higher because some vessels have switched off their automatic identification systems.

The Strait of Hormuz carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war. Any prolonged disruption therefore has consequences beyond the US-Iranian conflict, particularly for global energy supplies.

How Iran responded — and what Tehran warned

Iran has rejected the US justification for the strike and described the attack as aggression.

The BBC reported that Iran’s IRGC had said two people were killed and two injured, while Reuters reported that the Guards had confirmed deaths and injuries without giving a precise figure. The IRGC also said it had shot down a US drone over the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that has not been independently verified. It vowed “response and punishment” from Tehran, according to Iranian state media.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi described the attack as a “strategic and fatal mistake by the Trump regime”, the BBC reported. He warned that the US would face consequences in both economic and military terms.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was not seeking war but would deliver a decisive response to the attack, according to the BBC.

That response came within hours.

The IRGC said it had attacked the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan with ballistic missiles. Iranian state media said the strikes were carried out in retaliation for the US attack on Larak Island. The IRGC claimed it had caused heavy damage to technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities and positions used by US fighter aircraft, according to the BBC.

Jordan gave a different account of the attack. Its armed forces said they had intercepted eight missiles that entered Jordanian airspace. The extent of the damage caused by the strike and the reported Iranian casualties has not been independently established.

Al Jazeera reported that Iran's response came after the first known US strikes on Iran since late July and that the exchange of fire marked a new escalation between the two sides.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also described Trump’s claim that mines had been removed or detonated as a ‘propaganda’ deception, according to the BBC.

What the strike means for the war

The Larak operation matters because it breaks a period in which the US had largely moved away from direct military action against Iran and towards economic pressure.

Reuters reported that the Trump administration had been increasing sanctions on Tehran and its business partners. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said further secondary sanctions were expected, with banks among the initial targets. The Larak strike came alongside Washington’s sanctions campaign, and the US has said it remains prepared to use military force when it says it faces an imminent threat to shipping.

For Washington, the immediate issue is preventing the deployment of new mines and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping, as it has said it is seeking to do. For Tehran, the status of the waterway remains disputed, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy rejecting Washington’s claim that the strait is open to shipping.

The military exchange also creates the possibility of further retaliation. Iran has already responded to the Larak strike by targeting US bases in Jordan, while the US has warned that any attempt to deploy new mines in the strait will be met with military action.

Al Jazeera reported that the US strike was the first known American attack on Iran since late July, while the BBC highlighted the subsequent Iranian warning that Washington would face consequences for the attack.

The immediate question is whether the Larak strike remains a limited operation or triggers another cycle of US-Iranian attacks. Washington says it acted to prevent an imminent threat to shipping, while Tehran has described the strike as aggression and its attack on US positions as retaliation. With the Strait of Hormuz still at the centre of the dispute, further action by either side could affect both the course of the conflict and international energy supplies.