US-Iran clash escalates with strikes and missile retaliation

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According to multiple outlets, the US military carried out strikes on at least two Iranian missile launchers on **Larak Island**, a small but strategically located island in the **Strait of Hormuz**, saying the operation was intended to prevent Iran from laying sea mines that could threaten vital global oil shipping lanes.[1][10][11][14] Shortly after these strikes, Iranian state-linked media and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that Iran launched **ballistic missiles** at two US air bases in **Jordan** used by American forces, framing the action as retaliation and an assertion that US moves amounted to an ‘act of war’.[10][11] US Central Command officials have publicly rejected aspects of Iran’s narrative as “absolutely false,” even as they confirm their own strikes and acknowledge a dangerous escalation in hostilities.[10] The clash is unfolding against a backdrop of heightened rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, including an AI-generated video purporting to show Iran’s Kharg Island being destroyed—footage that Reuters reporting and Iranian officials have dismissed as fabricated and “laughable.”[3][13] Taken together, the live military exchanges, competing information campaigns, and the Strait of Hormuz’s central role in global energy supplies make this confrontation the most urgent and globally consequential breaking story at the moment.

Sources: Reuters, CNN, TheGuardian, NDTV, Webindia123, StraitsTimes, AP