Iran and the United States have exchanged fire after US forces struck two launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said, the BBC reports.
The strikes killed two people and injured two others, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said. The IRGC also claimed it had shot down a US drone over the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed to retaliate.
US Central Command said it had taken “limited, precise action” against “minelaying forces posing an imminent threat” in the strategic waterway.
Iran later said it had attacked US bases in Jordan with ballistic missiles. Jordan’s army said it intercepted eight missiles early Monday.
The latest escalation follows renewed tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route. Larak Island lies near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and the strait.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was not seeking war, but would respond to the attack.
“We are not seeking war, but we will deliver a decisive response to the aggressors,” Pezeshkian said, according to AFP.
The US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on February 28, with Iran responding by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic.
The conflict has now passed the six-month mark. Before the war, around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments travelled through the Strait of Hormuz.
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