Summary:
United States forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets inside Iran at 12 p.m. Eastern Time on 1 September. The strikes followed an exchange that began on 30 August, when US forces hit IRGC launchers on Larak Island. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said those launchers were being prepared to fire sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, and that Tuesday’s wave followed attempted attacks on commercial shipping and on American service members.
Iran answered the Larak strike with missiles and drones at two Jordanian bases that host US forces. Jordan said eight missiles that entered its airspace were destroyed and reported no threat to people or property. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it intercepted one drone over its waters and denied an Iranian claim that Al Minhad Air Base had been hit.
On the same day two commercial tankers, the Saudi-flagged Sidr and the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity, were struck by unknown projectiles off Oman. No party claimed responsibility.
Detailed Report
1. US Hits Mine-Rocket Launchers on Larak Island
On 30 August, US forces struck two IRGC rocket launchers on Larak Island. Officials said the Guard had been seen preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the strait.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, the CENTCOM spokesman, gave that account to reporters. Tasnim, the IRGC-affiliated agency, said the strike was delivered by drone.
CENTCOM later set out the same reason in a fact-check.
U.S. forces took 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.
The IRGC called the strike an act of aggression. Its public-relations office, as carried by Nour News and IRNA, said several combatants and civilians had been killed or wounded.
This action will be answered by the sons of Islamic Iran and will result in the punishment of the aggressor.
Tasnim, citing initial field reports, put the toll at two killed and two wounded. The IRGC also said an American MQ-9 drone was struck over the strait and fell into the Gulf. The US has not confirmed a loss.
2. Iran Strikes Jordan Bases; UAE Denies Al Minhad Hit
On 31 August the IRGC fired on King Hussein Air Base and Al-Azraq Air Base, the latter also known as Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. Fars reported that the Aerospace Force, in an operation named Punishment of the Aggressor, claimed hits on technical and repair infrastructure and fighter-deployment sites at the two Jordanian fields that host US forces.
Aggression and crimes will not solve the enemy’s desperation in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every attack will be met with even more devastating responses.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement carried by IRNA and Tasnim, cast the strikes as self-defence after Larak.
In response to this military aggression and in accordance with its inherent right to legitimate defense, the powerful Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran delivered defensive and crushing strikes against US military bases located in Jordan, which served as the launchpad and support for the US military aggression against Iran.
The Jordan Armed Forces said air defences intercepted eight missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace at dawn and destroyed them before they posed a threat to civilians or property. The statement did not name Iran and did not report damage at either base.
US accounts of the same incoming missiles were issued separately. An unnamed official told Stars and Stripes there were no impacts at US bases. A US source told Fox News during the attack that nearly all of the missiles had been intercepted and that there had been no significant impact. President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox’s Trey Yingst on 31 August, said US air defences had intercepted all but one missile and that the remaining missile had been allowed through because it was not expected to hit anything significant. He said the United States would respond, stating “we’re going to hit them hard.”
Iran’s army, through state television, said it had sent drones against Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE, where it said US forces and helicopters were stationed. The UAE Ministry of Defence said it had dealt with a drone over territorial waters coming from Iran and that reports of a missile attack on Al Minhad were “baseless.”
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the incident a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty, security and stability, and a direct threat to the safety of citizens and residents. It described the attack as an unacceptable act of aggression and said the UAE holds Iran fully responsible.
3. Two Outbound Tankers Hit Off Oman
On the evening of 31 August two tankers leaving the strait were hit off the Omani coast.
The maritime risk firm Marisks said the Saudi-flagged Sidr, operated by Bahri, was struck by unknown projectiles about 16.6 nautical miles northeast of Khasab at 19:52 UTC. Minutes later the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity, operated by Sinokor, was struck by three unknown projectiles about 17 nautical miles east of Khasab. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre reported the same three-projectile hit on an outbound tanker 17 nautical miles east of Khasab. Both ships had loaded about two million barrels of Saudi crude at Juaymah, according to the tracker Kpler. Crews were reported safe and no pollution was reported in the first notices. No state claimed the attacks.
CENTCOM the next morning listed attempted IRGC attacks on commercial shipping as one of two reasons for the new strikes inside Iran. In a separate 31 August notice the command rejected an IRGC claim that a supertanker on the southern route had struck two mines and stopped.
No ships have hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
4. New US Strikes Hit IRGC Targets Inside Iran
CENTCOM tied the new strikes inside Iran to the attacks on shipping and on American forces.
US forces began striking IRGC targets at 12 p.m. Eastern Time on 1 September.
Today at 12 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran. The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.
Trump, posting as the strikes were under way, described the same operation.
The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines (They have been completely removed or detonated!), and the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan.
Fox News, citing Yingst, said the strikes appeared relatively widespread across southwestern Iran, with explosions reported beyond Bandar Abbas and near the Gulf of Oman, and that the operation was still under way.
Iranian media reported explosions at Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Sirik, Jask, Chabahar, Konarak and Minab. The state broadcaster IRIB described blasts east of Bandar Abbas, around Qeshm and in the strait. Fars added Sirik and, from local authorities, Chabahar and Konarak. IRNA reported Jask and Sirik. Nour News named Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.
5. IRGC Warns of Punishment as Trump Threatens a Harder Blow
The IRGC said the new wave would be answered. Spokesman Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi wrote that harsh punishment awaited the aggressors and that the US would regret the attacks.
Tasnim quoted an unnamed military source saying the response would be several times greater and that US interests and bases in the region would quickly come under Iranian attack.
Trump, in the same post that described the 1 September strikes, warned that another Iranian reply would draw a harder blow, and that a still larger attack was being held back.
If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!
Reports that Iranian forces launched again at regional US bases, or at US Navy ships in the Gulf of Oman, on the evening of 1 September were not confirmed by CENTCOM, Jordan or the UAE.
Conclusion
US forces opened the exchange on 30 August by striking IRGC launchers on Larak Island, which CENTCOM said were being prepared to put sea mines in the strait. Iran answered the next day with missiles and drones at King Hussein and Al-Azraq, the Jordanian bases that host American troops, and that evening two tankers leaving the waterway were hit off Oman. On 1 September the United States struck again, this time against IRGC targets inside Iran.