The president of the United States, Donald Trump, shared this Sunday on Truth Social a video generated with artificial intelligence showing the destruction of the Iranian island of Jarg, the country's main oil terminal.
The images simulate bombings in which a storage tank and an oil tanker explode, observed from an aircraft. The content was accompanied by the message: "Jarg Island being shattered! President DJT."
The publication comes hours after the first US attack against Iranian targets in a month, which hit the island of Larak, in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and the United States have returned to open military confrontation in the first crossed attack since July, with an exchange of blows that once again has the Strait of Hormuz as the epicenter of tensions.
The escalation began with a US attack on the island of Larak, off the southeast coast of Iran, where the regime has deployed resources to maintain control of Hormuz.
The attack targeted suspected sea mine launchers. "Iran created the threat, and the US military eliminated it to protect civilian sailors, commercial shipping and the free flow of global commerce," US Central Command said in a statement.
Washington justified its intervention as a "limited and precise" action aimed at reducing an Iranian attempt to expand the deployment of mines in the strait. In response to the attacks, the Iranian president, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, warned that Iran "is not seeking war," but that it "will not sit idly by" in the face of American attacks.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was quick to respond, with retaliation targeting US bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian army claimed to have launched "dozens of drones" against the Emirati Al Minhad air base and successfully hit US facilities. Abu Dhabi reported the interception of drones from Iran, but assured that none of its structures were damaged by the attacks.
On the other hand, Iran accused Jordan of allowing and supporting attacks against the island of Larak from US bases located in the country. Tehran launched a series of drone attacks against the country, which were intercepted by the Syrian forces.
In this last quarter, the regime has expanded its strategy of retaliation against Gulf countries and hit Jordan on several occasions, which houses some 4,000 US soldiers in the Azraq bases and the Hussein air facilities. During the war in April, Iran also accused Amman of protecting Israeli airspace during the recent war against Tehran.
Control of Hormuz
This new episode of military clashes occurs in the context of control of the Strait of Hormuz, experts point out.
According to Hamidreza Azizi, Iran analyst for SWP Berlin, the United States has managed in recent weeks to partially restore the flow of ships around Oman and supported night maneuvers with small tankers to avoid Tehran's control.
Last night's attacks on Iranian checkpoints on Larak Island point to a strategy to undermine Iran's ability to monitor vessels passing through Hormuz. «The target were launchers that were preparing to fire rockets with sea mines into the strait. Iranian sources also claim that the Revolutionary Guard had attacked several ships shortly before the American attack," Azizi points out on his networks.
Transit through this crucial maritime route for global trade in oil and other energies had already been paralyzed for weeks, with only five crossings this last weekend. Iran and Oman announced a provisional agreement for transit in Hormuz last week, but so far there have been no changes to maritime traffic.
The Iranian regime reported this Monday that a supertanker trying to cross the strait was immobilized and caught fire after being hit by two sea mines. "The Revolutionary Guard warns once again that the fate of ships that violate the security regulations of the Strait of Hormuz will be the same," the military force said in a statement.
Entrenched conflict
Six months after the launch of the war against Iran by the United States and Israel, the conflict is entrenched, with peace talks paused and a new US economic offensive to hit Tehran's economy.
