WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on the Strait of Hormuz in their first military action in a month on Sunday, breaking a lull in fighting during an intermittent war that has lasted more than six months. Iran swiftly vowed to retaliate for what it called a deadly attack.
Forces with the Revolutionary Guard Corps were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the strait, according to Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for the U.S. Central Command. The U.S. military last week completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes.
Semiofficial news outlets in Iran reported sounds of explosions near Larak island on the strait. The Guard in a statement carried by Iran's state broadcaster noted “the martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots.”
A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted U.S. military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began on Feb. 28.
The fighting comes just days after the Trump administration said it would turn its focus to increasing economic pressure — rather than military action — to try to end its war with Iran. The shifting strategy centers on threats to punish any country or entity that continues to conduct business with Tehran.
Sunday's attack was a “fatal mistake by the Trump regime during the economic war” and the enemy will pay the consequences militarily and economically, a Guard spokesperson, Gen. Hossein Mohebi, said in a statement carried by Iranian media.
The U.S. turn to using sanctions came as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, sparking concerns that the prolonged conflict could undermine U.S. military readiness in other parts of the globe.
As the conflict grinds on, President Donald Trump’s talk of finding a quick end to the war also appears to be fading. He stressed last week that he’s “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues making the case that the Islamic Republic’s leadership is on the ropes.
Appointments to Iran’s senior security leadership in the past month, however, have signaled Tehran’s defiance after weathering decades of sanctions as well as a lack of tolerance for dissent at home.
Trump has consistently emphasized that the U.S. and Israel campaign has been devastating for Iran’s navy and air force. Iranian officials have said the country has suffered $270 billion in direct and indirect damage. Israeli military strikes in the first weeks of the war wiped out much of the theocratic government’s leadership structure.
But Iran has found leverage through its strikes against vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, where relatively few ships carrying oil and liquefied natural gas are risking passage. Iran still has enough drones and missiles to fire at vessels transiting the waterway through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows.
Tehran continues to assert that even after it works out a management plan for the strait with Oman, its neighbor on the other side of the waterway, the U.S. can't use it until it fulfills its obligations under the memorandum of understanding the countries signed in mid-June.
Trump has repeatedly declared that the “Strait of Hormuz is open,” saying 24 vessels passed through last week. But that’s a fraction of the roughly 130 vessels that transited daily before the war began.
Earlier on Sunday, a multinational coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy said commercial traffic through the strait remained at “reduced levels.”
And a monitoring agency run by the British military said an unknown projectile struck a tanker ship on Saturday north of Khasab, Oman, in the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said no casualties or environmental impact had been reported, and cited unspecified military authorities. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The U.S. military said that as of Sunday, it had redirected 83 commercial vessels and disabled three under its blockade of Iranian ports.
Toropin reported from Nuremberg, Germany. Anna reported from Lowville, New York.
Crowds fill a street during celebrations marking Prophet Muhammad's birthday in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Children laugh and play in a spray of water during a street celebration marking Prophet Muhammad's birthday in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Hundreds of people crowded into a church near Haiti’s capital on Sunday for the funeral of four of the 47 people killed in a recent gang attack so brutal that it shook a country that has long struggled with violence.
Mourners wiped away tears, raised their hands and cried out as coffins arrived at a church in the farming community of Kenscoff.
“We thank everyone who came in solidarity with the families that died and those who lost their loved ones,” Pastor Jean Robert Dorlus said. “God will open a space to receive them.”
At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked the once-peaceful community of Kenscoff near Haiti’s capital a week ago. T hey later released six children and seven women following an intervention by community leaders and UNICEF.
It was one of the biggest mass kidnappings in Haiti in recent years, and survivors have organized protests and blamed police for not preventing the attack, which pierced the belief that security in the troubled Caribbean country was improving.
Gang violence has displaced a record of nearly 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,050 people were reported killed from January to June, according to U.N. statistics.
Inside the church, people swayed to gospel music. Some wailed as their shoulders shook. The church was so packed that dozens had to stand outside, peering through the windows, as they honored those being laid to rest: a mother, father and their son, and a 70-year-old man whose body had been set on fire by the gang members.
“I’ve known them for a long time,” said Yvon Marleus, a Kenscoff resident who lost a cousin in the attack. “These are people who are respected in the community.”
“They didn’t act in time to stop the carnage,” Marleus alleged, referring to police.
Haiti’s National Police has said that it ordered an investigation to establish the truth about the attack, and whether it was "due to complicity or negligence.”
Outside the church, civilians stood guard with automatic weapons, ready to repel any potential new gang attacks with the help of police officers stationed nearby.
Kenscoff resident Jean Calixte Juste said he and two cousins survived the attack “by luck.”
"I almost died,” he recalled. “I almost fell into a ravine running. This is the worst and most terrible night I’ve ever experienced.”
He didn’t know the four people whose funerals were held Sunday, but he said he wanted to honor their memories.
It wasn't clear when funerals of the other victims might be held.
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV condemned the massacre.
“I express my prayerful closeness to the victims and their families and ask that all the hostages be released without delay,” he said. "I make a heartfelt appeal to all those responsible to make a concrete commitment to ensuring the safety of the population and putting an end to every form of violence.”
Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, said that some 150 heavily armed gang members participated in the Aug. 23 attack. She said they first killed 13 people who tried to flee and then pursued 50 more who had sought refuge inside a church.
“After forcing them out from the premises, they executed 22 of them on the church courtyard and 12 others behind the church,” she said.
Dozens of others were injured, and more than 2,600 people were left homeless.
Armed men control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and swaths of land in Haiti’s central region and beyond, and they are also seeking to seize territory in Kenscoff.
“I’m ready to leave," said Juste, one of the residents. "Because after this, I don’t think we’re going to survive another big attack.”
Coto reported from Havana.
Relatives carry a coffin to the cemetery for burial after the funeral ceremony for four victims killed in a gang attack on the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Relatives attend the funeral ceremony for four victims of a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Relatives lift the coffin of a gang attack victim for burial at the cemetery after the funeral ceremony for four people killed during the attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Relatives attend the funeral of four victims of a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Blood stains the ground left behind by the victim of a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
