Attacks flare between the U.S. and Iran after a monthlong pause

A small boat sails past cargo ships and other commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Aug. 5. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP hide caption

AMMAN, Jordan — The U.S. military struck what it said were Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday while Iran retaliated with strikes on U.S. forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in the first major attacks between the two sides in more than a month.

The U.S. military said in an email to NPR that it struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Sunday that it said were preparing to fire sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian armed forces said those attacks against sites on Larak Island in the strait killed military personnel and civilians. Iran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at U.S. forces and helicopters at an air base in the UAE, and targeted bases in Jordan.

It said the Jordanian bases and aircraft had been used to launch and support the U.S. attack on Larak Island, a strategic Iranian military post that overlooks shipping lanes near the port of Bandar Abbas.

The UAE denied Iranian state media reports that its al-Minhad Air Base had been targeted ⁠by missiles, but said it intercepted drones over its territorial waters that, it said, had been launched from Iran.

Jordan's armed forces said it had shot down eight missiles that entered the country's airspace. The Jordanian military did not comment on whether other drones or missiles had penetrated its defenses and reached the air bases.

U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper said last week that U.S. forces had completed clearing sea mines from the strait's international shipping routes. Iran however said a supertanker that had caught fire over the weekend had struck two naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing it to a halt.