US forces strike two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak island, US official says

By Kanishka Singh and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak island on Sunday, a U.S. official said, marking the first known American strikes on Iran since late July.

"I can confirm that earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz," the U.S. official said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and would be met with a "response and punishment" from Tehran, Iranian state media reported.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the U.S. carried out a drone strike on the island.

U.S. President Donald Trump ​said last week that all mines ‌had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran has been told that any ship ​or boat placing new mines will be ​destroyed.

The last known U.S. strikes on Iran were in late July as the war has reached a stalemate in recent weeks with Washington threatening to impose costly sanctions on countries that support Iran.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases. The Iran war has now crossed its six-month mark.

U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed in the conflict.

The war has led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict used to see a transit of about a fifth of the world's oil barrels consumed.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Phil Stewart in Washington and Yasmine Ghania and Hatem Maher in Cairo; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Chris Reese)