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Tehran: Fresh hostilities erupted in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed an attack by the United States.
The IRGC claimed that the US forces took its personnel to prevent them from placing mines in the key waterway and termed it an “act of aggression.” However, the United States' Central Command, looking after operations in the Middle East, called it "false." The CentComm said US forces carried out limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. “In essence, Iran created the threat, and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce,” it added.
On Sunday hostilities between the US and Iran resumed with American forces striking two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, and Iran later claimed a retaliatory missile and drone attack on US military bases in Jordan. The strikes marked the first US attack on Iran and Tehran's counterstrike in a month and came amid renewed tensions over the Strait of Hormuz.
Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for Central Command, said forces from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been observed preparing to launch rockets armed with sea mines from Larak Island into the waters around the strait.
The operation appeared to be limited compared with the extensive US bombing campaign earlier in the conflict. However, Iran has vowed retaliation, fuelling fears of renewed military escalation between the two sides.
US forces had cleared mines previously planted by Iran in the strait as of last week, according to Adm Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command.
The Trump administration has been urging commercial vessels to resume passage through the waterway, with the US Navy guiding ships through the southern part of the strait in Omani waters.
After the US attack, the IRGC vowed retaliation. The IRGC said the strike "will be responded to with punishment on the aggressor", according to Iran's state broadcaster.
Iranian news agencies later reported that the IRGC had launched a combined missile and drone operation against US military bases in Jordan in retaliation for the Larak Island strike.
The IRGC called the operation "Punishment of the Aggressor" and said it targeted the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases. It claimed the strikes "destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites", causing significant damage.
The struggle for influence over the Strait of Hormuz has become a central issue in the conflict between Iran and the United States, with both sides claiming to hold the advantage. But recent shipping data suggests the balance may be shifting.
According to Kpler, a maritime analytics company that tracks vessels using transponders and satellite data, more than 80% of ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks have used the Omani shipping route, a UN-authorised channel that Iran has opposed.
