The United States has attacked an island in the Strait of Hormuz, hitting what the American military said were launchers for sea mines, in the first US strike on Iran for a month.
The strikes appeared to be limited in scope rather than the resumption of the larger-scale bombing campaign conducted earlier in the confrontation, according to The New York Times, which reported the operation on Sunday.
The choice of target points to American concern over the security of the waterway itself. The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow channel linking the Gulf to the Arabian Sea and one of the most heavily used shipping lanes in the world, carrying a substantial share of globally traded seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas. Sea mines laid in or near the strait would threaten commercial traffic as well as naval vessels.
The US military said the equipment struck consisted of launchers for sea mines. It has not been established publicly how many launchers were hit, what damage was inflicted or whether anyone was killed or injured.
The island targeted has not been identified in the military's account of the operation, nor has the precise timing of the strikes been set out.
The attack breaks a lull of roughly a month in direct American military action against Iran. That pause followed a period of heavier bombardment, and the scale of Sunday's operation suggests a narrower objective, according to the assessment reported by The New York Times.
Iran has not issued a response to the strikes that has been made public, and it is not yet clear whether Tehran will retaliate or whether Washington intends further action.
Shipping in the strait has been a recurring pressure point through the confrontation, with governments and commercial operators watching for any move to disrupt traffic through the channel. Any successful mining of the waterway would carry consequences for global energy markets well beyond the two countries involved.
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