On August 30, the US announced that it had attacked Iranian missile launchers on a small island in the Strait of Hormuz. This was the first air strike against Iran in a month, causing Tehran to immediately respond.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the US attacks caused "injuries". In response, this force attacked US military targets in Jordan, Iranian state media reported.
According to AFP, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard "targeted the enemy's technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities and fighter aircraft positions at the King Hussein and Al-Azraq air bases operated by the US in Jordan" with ballistic missiles, causing "heavy damage".
The firepower exchange took place right after the US-Iran war reached the 6-month mark, at a time when hostilities were subsided.
Washington said the attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from continuing to drop naval mines into the strait, just days after the US announced its completion of clearing explosives from this strategic waterway route.
Today, US forces attacked 2 Iranian launchers on Larak Island," a spokesman for the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, adding that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were "discovered preparing to launch mine-carrying rockets into the Strait of Hormuz".
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump's administration has prioritized "economic warfare" instead of military attacks on Iran.
Iran has in fact blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping route that once undertook 1/5 of the world's oil transportation before the US and Israel launched war by air strikes against Iran on February 28.
Last week, CENTCOM completed mine clearing from international shipping routes through the strait," said Navy Colonel Tim Hawkins, CENTCOM spokesman. "US forces are closely monitoring the area and ready to protect the free trade flow through this essential waterway route.
For months, diplomatic efforts led by intermediaries including Pakistan and Qatar tried to end the war but failed. Although a ceasefire was agreed upon in April and a memorandum of understanding towards a final peace agreement was signed in June, no agreement took shape, while Washington later declared the launch of an "economic war" against Tehran.
The most recent US airstrike against Iran took place on July 29, in response to "a surprise attack on US forces" in the region. In early July, CENTCOM attacked Iran for 13 consecutive nights.
The war with Iran faces deep opposition from the US public, in the context of the midterm election in November approaching and potentially reversing the control of the Republican Party in Congress.
