US Strike On Iranian Launchers Signals Resolve To Keep Hormuz Open, Experts Say

US forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on August 30, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was seen preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the waterway. Radio Free Europe reports the strike followed an earlier Iranian attack on a ship off Oman's coast, and it's the first publicly reported direct US strike on Iranian forces in more than a month. Iran's IRGC confirmed casualties among its fighters and vowed retaliation. Experts told the outlet the strait remains physically open, but analysts say Iran can keep threatening shipping with missiles and drones that the US cannot fully eliminate, leaving the standoff unresolved as winter heating-oil demand approaches.

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