U.S. Strikes Iranian Launchers Set to Mine Hormuz, IRGC Vows ‘Severe Repercussions’

U.S. Strikes Iranian Launchers Set to Mine Hormuz, IRGC Vows ‘Severe Repercussions’

Joshua Klein

U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers Sunday after the military observed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Tehran to vow retaliation in the first known American strike inside Iran since late July.

The launchers were struck on Larak Island, an Iranian island near the strategic waterway, according to U.S. officials who confirmed the operation to multiple media outlets.“Earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz,” one U.S. official said.

American forces are closely monitoring the area and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through the strait, the official added.

The IRGC acknowledged the attack shortly afterward, saying Iranian forces and civilians were killed or wounded and vowing to punish those responsible. Iran’s Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Guards, cited preliminary, unofficial reports that two people were killed and two others wounded.

“The terrorist enemy’s aggression on Larak Island will be met with punishment for the aggressor,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebi escalated the threat, calling the strike a “strategic and fatal error” by the Trump administration that would carry “severe repercussions.”

“The adversary will face the ramifications of this faulty calculus across both the economic and military arenas,” Mohebi said.

Iranian officials issued additional threats in the hours after the attack, warning that the U.S. response would be met with a more painful retaliation.

“Undoubtedly, no crime, at any level, goes unanswered; a response that is devastating, more painful, and instructive, which will complete the chain of your failures,” Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi warned. “Wait in fear and terror!”

A spokesman for Iran’s armed forces separately declared that Tehran’s response to the attack would be “definitive.”

Sunday’s strike came days after President Donald Trump specifically warned Iran against attempting to place new mines in Hormuz after U.S. forces cleared Iranian mines from the strait’s international shipping lanes.

Writing on Truth Social last week, Trump announced that the U.S. Navy had removed or detonated the mines in international waters before warning Tehran: “Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed.”