Overview
- U.S. forces struck two rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, Aug. 30, saying they had observed IRGC personnel preparing rockets fitted with sea mines to be fired into the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported deaths and injuries from the strike and vowed retaliation, and Iranian forces launched ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Jordan that regional forces and U.S. officials said were intercepted.
- CENTCOM said it recently cleared sea mines from the strait’s international shipping lanes and has been enforcing a blockade by redirecting 83 commercial vessels, disabling three and boarding two to limit Iran’s maritime actions.
- Washington is pairing limited kinetic strikes with stepped‑up financial pressure, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying weekly rounds of secondary sanctions targeting banks and financial links to Tehran are planned.
- Commercial transits through Hormuz remain far below normal levels, Iran insists the strait is closed until U.S. commitments under the Islamabad MoU are met, and the disruption is driving higher energy prices and supply strains for regional civilians and traders.