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Monday, 31 August 2026dailybeirut.com
World
U.S. Central Command confirmed Monday it carried out a "limited, precise" action against Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces planting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, denying Tehran’s claim that the operation was “aggressive.”
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Monday that American forces had conducted a “limited, precise” action targeting units of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) engaged in mine-laying operations in the Strait of Hormuz, which CENTCOM assessed as posing an imminent threat.
In its official statement, CENTCOM stated: “In fact, Iran created this threat, and the U.S. military removed it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global trade.”
CENTCOM explicitly rejected recent IRGC claims—issued in a separate statement—that the U.S. actions to prevent mine-laying in the Strait of Hormuz constituted “aggressive conduct,” calling that assertion “entirely false.”
The command reported that, as of 30 August, its forces had altered the course of 83 commercial vessels, disabled three ships, and boarded two others to ensure compliance with sanctions enforcement measures.
On the same day, President Donald Trump, speaking in an interview with Fox News, said the U.S. intervention in the region aimed to prevent Iran from acquiring and using a nuclear weapon against Israel—and potentially against the United States or Europe.
Trump asserted during the interview: “Once we win the war against Iran, we will have near-total control over the Strait of Hormuz.” He added: “Iran may be a nuisance, but we control the Strait of Hormuz and have removed all mines from it.”
He reiterated that if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, “America would be the next target—or Europe or somewhere else,” and stressed that Iran would “absolutely not” be permitted to acquire such a weapon.
On Sunday, Trump posted a single-line message on his platform Truth Social, accompanied by an AI-generated video, stating: “Kharg Island is being destroyed.”
