First US military attacks on Iran in a month prompt retaliation

The US has reverted to military attacks on Iran for the first time in a month, firing missiles and drones at Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, prompting the Iranian military to attack US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

US Central Command said it acted late on Sunday after it detected the Iranians planning to fire fresh mines into the strait. Last week Donald Trump claimed the US navy had cleared the strait of mines for the first time since the conflict started on 28 February, a claim the Iranians rejected as lies.

Iranian state TV later reported that a tanker had caught fire after hitting two naval mines while attempting to pass through the southern side of the strait close to Oman. It ‌did not identify the vessel or provide information ​about its crew.

The Islamic ⁠Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that other ships violating ⁠its rules would face ​the ​same fate and ​said compliance with ​its regulations ‌for ​passage ​through the strait was mandatory.

The last known ‌US strikes on Iran were in late July, but there has been little sign of hard diplomatic progress apart from claims that Oman and Iran had reached agreement on a single permitted navigation route through the strait. Iran has set preconditions before the agreed route is opened, and the US has not stated its position on the route.

The latest fighting broke out late on Sunday with a US attack on Larak Island in the strait. A US official said: “I can confirm that earlier today US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic ⁠Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the strait of Hormuz.”

The IRGC said the US attack killed or wounded several soldiers and citizens and ​would be met with “punishment” from ‌Tehran, Iranian state media reported. At least two Iranians were killed and two injured, initial reports said. One IRGC navy officer was announced killed.

The Mehr news agency quoted the IRGC as saying its air defences shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the strait, causing it to crash ‌into Gulf waters.

In response to the US attack, the IRGC “targeted technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities and enemy fighter jet positions at the US-operated King Hussein and al-Azraq airbases in Jordan” with ballistic missiles, causing “heavy damage”, according to state TV.

On Sunday night, Reuters reported a US source as saying all incoming missiles on US forces in Jordan had been intercepted with no significant impact so far. The UAE ministry of defence said it intercepted a drone over its territorial waters

The White House claim that the US now controls the strait and ships are free to navigate its waters without fear of Iranian reprisals is heavily contested.

Tanker Trackers, an independent tracking agency, said on Sunday: “Past seven days daily average of crude oil exports via the strait of Hormuz was 3.8m barrels per day. During the formal ceasefire period (which in effect only lasted for 25 days), it was 9.8mbpd.” The agency said Iranian crude exports had been at zero for some time.

A G20 finance ministers meeting in the US is likely to lead to a clash over US demands that more countries impose sanctions on Iran or face punitive action by the US. The German finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, facing difficult regional elections, is to urge the US to bring the conflict to a diplomatic end, pointing to the war’s inflationary impact.

The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kyrgyzstan where he will hold talks with Chinese officials.

China, a key Iranian customer for its oil, has said it opposes the new US sanctions campaign, and Pezeshkian will be looking for concrete Chinese investment to reduce the scale of the economic chaos inside Iran.