US strikes Iranian rocket launchers in first attack in weeks

(Tribune News Service) — The U.S. military on Sunday struck Iranian rocket launchers that were preparing to send mines into the Strait of Hormuz, following weeks of relative calm.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were getting ready to launch rockets with sea mines into the strait, said Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.

Last week, the U.S. military said it finished clearing mines from shipping routes in the strait, once an international waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed.

“U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” Hawkins said.

The attack by the U.S. was the first military action against Iran in more than a month, as President Donald Trump has switched to a campaign to squeeze the economy of the Islamic Republic.

The U.S. last fired missiles at Iranian targets in late July. Since then, the Trump administration has planned to embark on a campaign to drive Iran to the negotiating table by squeezing its economy.

Iran’s top diplomat said Friday that resuming diplomacy with the U.S. “isn’t impossible,” after what he described as “creative discussions with Qatar, a mediator in the conflict.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post that progress “hinges on U.S. understanding of one simple fact: Pressure doesn’t work.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promised an “economic onslaught” against Iran and its trading partners. That includes China, which buys 90% of Iran’s oil. He said the White House would be discussing with allies their plans to stop buying Iranian projects, but so far there have been no agreements to do so.

Bessent told The Associated Press ahead of the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in North Carolina that the U.S. would impose sanctions this week on a second bank that does business with Iran. Last week, Treasury issued a proposed rulemaking that would sever the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, from the U.S. financial system.

“This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” Bessent told the AP.

With assistance from Patrick Sykes.

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