The military confrontation between the United States and Iran came back to the fore after US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on its Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, on Sunday, August 30.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed that the attack on Larak was launched to prevent Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
However, an Iranian military source debunked CENTCOM’s claim as “fantasy and story making.”
The offensive marks the first US strike since July 29. At that time, the United States launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran, claiming they were a “powerful response” to attempted Iranian strikes on its forces in Jordan a day earlier.
Before the US assault on Larak on Sunday, the situation between Washington and Tehran was characterized by a relative military stalemate and a shift toward economic pressure, especially after the June Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) collapsed.
Read more: Ceasefire but not a grand bargain between the United States and Iran
Iran launches retaliatory attacks on US bases in UAE and Jordan
In response to the renewed US aggression, the Iranian army targeted US helicopters and forces stationed in Al-Minhad airbase, in the UAE, with destructive drones on Monday August, 31.
The army clarified in a statement that the Al-Minhad airbase serves as a key hub for air transport and logistical support to foreign forces.
The same day also saw drone and missile strikes launched by the IRGC on the technical and maintenance infrastructure and the fighter jet bases at the two US air bases in Jordan.
Iranian sources said that these bases constitute the infrastructure hosting US warplanes and supporting their regional operations from Jordanian territory.
Iran shoots down US drone over the Strait of Hormuz
Furthermore, the IRGC announced on Monday that the new advanced air defense system of its Aerospace Force detected a US MQ-9 drone, and shot it down over the strait of Hormuz.
Although analysts remain divided on whether the military confrontation between the US and Iran will further spiral, many suggest that recent developments signal the Trump administration’s frustration with the slow-moving economic sanctions it has imposed on Iran.
Read more: US announces more sanctions against Iran
From BT News via This RSS Feed.
A “month-long pause”?
That sounds like it took them a month to resupply.
