US strikes Iran again after month-long pause; Tehran hits back at US bases in Jordan

Strikes resume after a month of relative calm

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced strikes on Iran's Larak Island, in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, on Sunday, August 30 — the first US strikes on Iran in more than a month. CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said the strikes targeted two rocket launchers belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), after its forces were observed preparing to launch rockets loaded with sea mines into the strait.

Casualties and Iran's response

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the US strike caused deaths and injuries, without giving a precise figure. Iran's Tasnim news agency, however, reported two people killed and two wounded. The Guard vowed retaliation for what it called an "aggression," and on Monday, August 31, announced it had struck US military targets in Jordan with ballistic missiles and drones, hitting technical and maintenance facilities as well as aircraft at two bases. It warned that any further hostile act would meet an even stronger response.

Jordan's army said it shot down eight missiles that entered its airspace on Monday, without specifying their origin.

Background: a war over the Strait of Hormuz

The war began on February 28 with joint Israeli-US strikes on Iran. Since then, Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas passed before the conflict, while the US has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports. CENTCOM said it completed demining international shipping lanes in the strait last week and that its forces remain ready to protect free trade through the waterway.

Oil prices rose in Asian trading Monday morning following news of the renewed strikes: Brent crude gained 2.51% to $90.31 a barrel, crossing the symbolic $90 mark, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 2.41% to $85.41 a barrel.

Economic pressure continues

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Treasury would unveil new secondary sanctions on Iran weekly, initially focusing on banks, after sanctioning the UAE branches of Egypt's Banque Misr on Friday over alleged financial ties to Iran. Bessent is chairing a G20 finance ministers' meeting in the US on Monday and Tuesday. China said it would "firmly" defend its interests and cooperation with Iran. Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan on Monday, where Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — whose country is acting as a mediator in the conflict — are also expected. While Pezeshkian has acknowledged Iran faces "many economic difficulties," Tehran insists the US will gain "nothing" from its economic pressure campaign.