U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, marking the first American military action against Iran in a month, according to a U.S. official. The strike broke a lull in fighting in an intermittent war that has now lasted more than six months.

According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements, forces with the Revolutionary Guard Corps were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait. The U.S. military had completed clearing sea mines from the strait's international shipping routes just last week. The attempted mine deployment — coming so soon after that clearance effort — underscored how sea mines have become a recurring tool in the contest over the waterway, one that can threaten shipping even when launched from shore-based rockets.

Semiofficial news outlets in Iran reported sounds of explosions near Larak Island in the strait. In a statement carried by Iran's state broadcaster, the Guard acknowledged "the martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots" and said the attack will "result in punishment of the aggressor."

The strike comes just days after the Trump administration said it would shift its focus toward increasing economic pressure — rather than military action — in an effort to end its war with Iran. The strategy centers on threats to punish any country or entity that continues doing business with Tehran. Sunday's action, framed by U.S. officials as a response to an imminent mine-launch threat rather than a broader offensive, illustrates the tension between that stated pivot to sanctions and the need to respond militarily when the shipping lanes are directly threatened.

The turn to sanctions as the cudgel of choice comes as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, raising concerns that a prolonged conflict could undermine U.S. military readiness elsewhere in the world.

As the conflict grinds on, Trump's talk of finding a quick end to the war also appears to be fading. He stressed last week that he is "not in a hurry" to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues to argue that the Islamic Republic's leadership is on the ropes.

Trump has consistently emphasized that the U.S. and Israeli campaign has been devastating for Iran's navy and air force. Iranian officials have said the country has suffered $270 billion in direct and indirect damage. Israeli military strikes in the first weeks of the war wiped out much of the theocratic government's leadership structure.

Iran, however, has found leverage through its own strikes in the critical Strait of Hormuz, where relatively few vessels carrying oil and liquefied natural gas are risking passage. Iran retains enough drones and missiles to fire at vessels transiting the waterway — through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows — effectively controlling much of the traffic in the strait. The waterway, which separates Iran from Oman and the United Arab Emirates, is the chokepoint through which Persian Gulf producers — including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the UAE — ship most of their crude and gas exports to global markets.

Trump has repeatedly declared that the "Strait of Hormuz is open," saying 24 vessels passed through last week. That figure is a fraction of the roughly 130 vessels that transited the waterway daily before the war began.

Earlier on Sunday, a multinational coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy said commercial traffic through the strait remained at "reduced levels." Separately, a monitoring agency run by the British military said an unknown projectile struck a tanker on Saturday north of Khasab, Oman, in the strait.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said the ship had been moving inbound and that no casualties or environmental impact had been reported. It cited unspecified military authorities. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Source: Fortune