US carries out airstrike on IRGC rocket launchers at Iran's Larak Island

The United States conducted an airstrike against two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rocket launcher positions on Larak Island in southern Iran, in what Al Jazeera and Fox News described as the first such US strike on Iranian territory in weeks. Iran's IRGC confirmed the US bombing and vowed retaliation, later launching a missile and drone operation it called 'Punishment of the Aggressor' against the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan, with Jordan's military reporting it intercepted eight incoming missiles.

Why this matters. A direct US strike on Iranian soil followed by Iranian missile fire at US-linked bases in Jordan marks a sharp escalation beyond the prior weeks' lull, raising the risk of further tit-for-tat strikes on regional US installations.