Iran launches multi-province missile barrage after Larak Island strike

Iran launched a retaliatory barrage from four provinces, a broader response rather than a single strike point, indicating Tehran is deliberately widening the front rather than responding narrowly to the Larak Island strike. Traders are likely to interpret this as an escalation rather than a contained tit-for-tat. Anti-ship cruise missiles fired toward the Strait of Hormuz target the shipping lane itself, not a fixed installation, making them the most relevant part of the attack for oil markets. This revives the mine and projectile risk that US Central Command had only recently said was cleared. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures are expected to firm on the news, partially reversing the recent pullback linked to Oman-mediated talks on a temporary shipping corridor. Freight and war-risk insurance costs for tankers transiting the strait are also expected to rise. The broad geographic spread of the launches, which in previous similar events have reached toward Bahrain and other Gulf targets, increases the risk of a wider regional response that could further disrupt shipping and energy infrastructure beyond Iran's coastline.

Tehran responded to the Larak Island strike by launching a multi-province missile barrage directly targeting the Strait of Hormuz and its approaches.

The following points summarize the reports:

• Ballistic missiles were launched from Tehran and Lorestan province, as well as from Karaj and Khorramabad, according to multiple reports.
• Southern Iran launched anti-ship cruise missiles aimed at the Strait of Hormuz.
• Additional ballistic missile fire was reported from Shiraz in Fars province.
• These launches come after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps publicly vowed retaliation following a reported US strike on two of its rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday.
• The IRGC confirmed the Larak attack and stated that Iranian fighters and civilians were killed or wounded, but did not provide an exact number.
• The missile barrage follows US Central Command's announcement that it had cleared sea mines from the main international shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has fired a wave of missiles from at least four provinces, including anti-ship cruise missiles aimed at the Strait of Hormuz, in what appears to be the retaliation the IRGC vowed after a reported US strike on Larak Island on Sunday. Reports detail ballistic missile launches from Tehran and Lorestan, further launches from Karaj and Khorramabad, and additional ballistic missile fire from Shiraz in Fars province, alongside anti-ship cruise missiles launched from southern Iran toward the strait.

The barrage follows a US strike that hit two IRGC-N rocket launchers on Larak Island after they were observed being prepared to fire rockets fitted with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said. The IRGC confirmed the attack on Larak and stated that Iranian fighters and civilians had been killed or wounded, without providing a precise figure, and promised a response. That strike had itself marked the first known US action inside Iran in several weeks, a lull that coincided with intensifying Oman-mediated diplomacy over reopening the strait to normal shipping traffic.

The geographic spread of the launches on Monday, from the capital region down to Iran's southern coast, points to a coordinated response rather than a single localized strike. The inclusion of anti-ship cruise missiles aimed at Hormuz directly threatens the shipping lane the US had only recently said it had cleared of sea mines. US Central Command had reported overseeing the safe passage of some 1,500 commercial vessels since reimposing its blockade, alongside continued incidents of tankers being struck by unidentified projectiles in the strait.

The exchange threatens to unravel the fragile, months-long effort to stabilise shipping through Hormuz, just as Oman and Iran had been floating a temporary transit corridor. With six months of conflict already behind them, both sides now face a fresh test of whether this round of strikes and counter-strikes stays contained to military targets or spreads further into the shipping lanes and infrastructure that global oil markets depend on.