US-Iran Tensions Flare Again After Weeks of Calm

WASHINGTON/TEHRAN — After several weeks of relative quiet, US and Iranian forces have exchanged fire once more. On Sunday, US forces struck two missile launchers on Iran’s Larak Island. American officials said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel were preparing to launch rockets to plant naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
In response, Iran’s IRGC claimed it struck two US military bases in Jordan with ballistic missiles. Jordan’s armed forces, however, said their air defense systems intercepted eight missiles that violated the country’s airspace, destroying them mid-air.
President Donald Trump claimed on social media that Iran’s key energy hub, Kharg Island, was also being targeted, though no independent confirmation of that strike has emerged. This marks the first known US military action against Iran since late July.
Iranian state media reported that the US strike killed or wounded several people, with Tehran vowing to deliver a “response and punishment.” Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News, Trump claimed economic pressure on Iran was proving effective, adding that had he not been president, Israel “would have ceased to exist.”