The United States and Iran have exchanged strikes for the first time in weeks, raising tensions in the Middle East after US forces attacked two rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The US strikes, reportedly the first known American attacks on Iranian targets since late July, killed two people and injured two others, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which vowed to retaliate.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it carried out “limited, precise action” against what it described as “minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran subsequently claimed responsibility for attacks on US military bases in Jordan, describing the strikes as retaliation for the US operation on Larak Island.

Jordan’s military said it intercepted eight missiles early Monday, while Iranian state television reported that Iranian forces had also targeted Al-Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates with drones.

The UAE Ministry of Defence rejected the report as unfounded but confirmed that one drone had been intercepted.

Larak Island is located near Iran’s major port of Bandar Abbas and along the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors. Before the current conflict, about 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the waterway.

Iran has reportedly imposed new restrictions on tanker traffic in the area, including requiring vessels to pass near Larak Island for inspection and allegedly demanding payments of up to $2 million for passage.

Iranian news agency Tasnim, affiliated with the IRGC, reported that drones were used in the attack on Larak Island.

The IRGC later said it had targeted the King Hussein and Al-Azraq military bases in Jordan with ballistic missiles in response to the US strikes.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the American operation as “military aggression” and described the attacks on US bases as an act of “legitimate defence.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was not seeking war but would respond to any aggression.

“We are not seeking war, but we will deliver a decisive response to the aggressors,” he said, according to AFP.

The latest escalation has also triggered a fresh war of words between Washington and Tehran.

US President Donald Trump, following the American strikes, shared videos on Truth Social apparently showing explosions at Iranian oil infrastructure. One post referred to Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil terminal that Trump has previously threatened to attack.

Trump had also claimed last week that mines Iran placed in the Strait of Hormuz as part of efforts to restrict shipping had either been removed or detonated, warning that any further attempt to deploy mines would result in their destruction.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed the claim as propaganda.

The latest exchange of attacks comes as Washington continues to exert economic pressure on Tehran, while concerns grow that renewed military confrontation could disrupt shipping and global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.