🇺🇸 🇮🇷U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island; Asian WTI crude opened nearly 2% higher.

A U.S. official said American forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz. The official said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel had been observed preparing to use the launchers to send rockets carrying sea mines into the strait.

Separate reporting described the action as the first U.S. strike on an Iranian target in more than a month. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps subsequently said the attack caused military and civilian casualties and stated that it would respond.

West Texas Intermediate crude opened nearly 2% higher at $84.29 per barrel, while Brent opened 1.7% higher at $89.43 per barrel. Another early-Asian-session report described international crude prices as rising by more than 2% following the Larak Island strike.

The Strait of Hormuz was described as a route through which one-fifth of global oil and liquefied-natural-gas volumes had passed. The U.S. military also said it had completed mine-clearing work along the international shipping route through the strait.