On Sunday, American military forces targeted Iranian rocket launcher positions along the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first such operation in approximately a month and ending a pause in a conflict that has persisted for over half a year. Tehran pledged to respond to what it described as a lethal assault.
Personnel affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps were seen making preparations to deploy rockets fitted with sea mines into the strait, Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, reported. Naval forces had finished removing underwater explosive devices from the strait's international maritime corridors the previous week. State-affiliated media outlets reported explosion sounds near Larak island on the strait.
The Guard's statement, broadcast on state television, reported that a number of its personnel and civilians had been killed or wounded in the clashes. The statement followed the Trump administration's announcement that it would pursue heightened economic pressure rather than military action to resolve the ongoing conflict with Iran. The revised approach relies on the threat of penalties against any nation or entity that maintains commercial ties with Iran.
In a statement carried by Iranian media, Guard spokesperson Gen. Hossein Mohebi described the weekend attack as an error by the Trump administration in the context of an ongoing economic dispute, adding that there would be military and economic repercussions.
The administration's shift toward sanctions coincided with an internal review of weapons inventory levels following an extended period of armed conflict, raising questions about whether prolonged military engagement could affect operational capacity in other regions. As the conflict has persisted without a clear path forward, President Donald Trump's earlier commitments to end the war swiftly have not advanced. The previous week, he indicated there was no urgency to bring Iran back to talks, while continuing to argue that the country's leadership was in a weakened position.
Recent appointments to Iran's top security positions have been interpreted as an assertion of resolve following prolonged economic pressure, alongside a continued restriction of internal political opposition. Trump has repeatedly claimed that joint operations with Israel inflicted substantial losses on Iran's naval and air capabilities. The nation has sustained an estimated $270 billion in combined direct and indirect losses, according to statements from its officials.
During the opening weeks of the conflict, aerial bombardment by the Israeli military dismantled a substantial portion of the governing administration's command hierarchy. Iran's attacks on vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz have given it a degree of bargaining power, with a number of ships transporting oil and liquefied natural gas now avoiding the waterway. Reports indicate that the country retains a stockpile of unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic projectiles capable of targeting shipping in a strait through which roughly a fifth of global petroleum supplies typically passes.
Iran has maintained its position that, regardless of any strait management arrangement reached with Oman, access for the United States remains conditional on Washington fulfilling its commitments under the memorandum of understanding both nations signed in mid-June. Trump has asserted on multiple occasions that the Strait of Hormuz remains navigable, citing 24 vessels that transited the waterway in the previous week. That figure represents only a small portion of the approximately 130 ships that passed through each day prior to the conflict's outbreak.
On Sunday morning, a naval coalition operating under U.S. command reported that vessel traffic through the waterway had dropped to below-normal volumes, while a British military-affiliated monitoring body confirmed that an unidentified projectile had struck a tanker north of Khasab, Oman, in the strait the previous day. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organisation, no injuries or environmental damage had been recorded, with unnamed military sources cited as the basis for that assessment. No group or individual had come forward to claim responsibility.
According to a Pentagon statement, 83 cargo ships had been rerouted and three rendered inoperable by Sunday under a naval blockade of ports belonging to Iran.
