US Launches Defensive Strikes on Iranian Targets in Strait of Hormuz, Official Says

The U.S. has struck Iranian targets inside the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official who spoke to the Associated Press. The strikes were described as defensive. The official gave no further detail on which targets were hit or what prompted the action.

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow channel connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, and it sits between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the world's most closely watched waterways, and any military action there lands hard.

Washington has framed the operation as defensive, according to the U.S. official. That framing matters: it signals the strikes were a response rather than the opening of a new campaign, at least in the administration's telling.

The AP report carried the news with few added details, and no independent confirmation of the scope of the strikes has surfaced yet. What gets hit, and what Tehran does next, will decide how far this goes.