U.S. Central Command struck Iranian rocket launchers near Larak Island, resuming Iran strikes in defiance of the bicameral war-powers resolution

On August 30, 2026, U.S. Central Command struck Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps rocket launchers and sea mines that CENTCOM said were being prepared to launch into the Strait of Hormuz near Larak Island, Iran. CENTCOM spokesperson Tim Hawkins said the IRGC forces had been observed preparing to launch mine-laying rockets into the strait's shipping lanes, days after the U.S. military finished clearing sea mines from the strait's main shipping routes. CENTCOM described the strike as a "limited, precise action" taken "to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce." It was the first confirmed U.S. military action against Iran in roughly a month, breaking a pause that followed an August 1, 2026 directive from President Trump to hold off on further strikes at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Revolutionary Guard acknowledged "the martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots" without giving numbers, and hours later retaliated with ballistic missiles fired at U.S. bases in Jordan; Jordan's armed forces said they intercepted eight missiles that entered the country's airspace, and U.S. officials said nearly all the incoming missiles were intercepted with no significant impacts reported.

The strike proceeds under a military campaign against Iran that has continued since the war began on February 28, 2026, without new congressional authorization. In June 2026, Congress passed a first-ever bicameral War Powers Resolution directing the president to end hostilities with Iran; the administration has not complied, instead continuing strikes, boardings, and blockade enforcement against Iranian targets and vessels under the president's own asserted authority as commander-in-chief. This strike is a distinct new event in that campaign: unlike the blockade strikes on the civilian tankers M/T Vela Nova, M/T Lavine, and M/T Belma, and the boarding of the M/T Charminar, all recorded separately in this archive, the August 30 action targeted Iranian military rocket launchers and mines rather than a civilian vessel or crew.