Iran’s energy hub of Kharg Island is being blown to smithereens, U.S. President Donald Trump ​said on Sunday in a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video clip.

There was no other evidence that the Iranian energy hub was under ‌attack. The White House and the U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside regular business hours, Reuters reported.

There was no immediate response to Trump’s post on Iranian media.

“Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT,” Trump said on social media, but gave no further details.

Reuters confirmed that an accompanying video clip showing dramatic explosions was most likely synthetically-generated, using software that detects AI-manipulated imagery.

Attacking Kharg, which handled 90% ​of Iran’s oil exports before the war launched by U.S. and Israeli attacks on February 28, would severely disrupt its energy trade and put huge pressure on its ​economy.

Iran responded to an earlier U.S. attack on rocket launchers on its island of Larak, about 660 km (410 miles) east of Kharg, with ⁠an assault on two U.S. bases in Jordan, Iranian media said.

The return to hostilities followed weeks in which the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to punish Tehran and its ​business partners with costly economic sanctions, shifting away from military options.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Sunday new secondary sanctions were likely to be unveiled weekly in the effort to pressure ​Iran, with an initial focus on banks.

“We’re starting with the banks, and we’re telling the banks it’s not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime,” Bessent said in an interview.

After imposing penalties on the United Arab Emirates branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr on Friday over alleged financial links to Iran, Bessent said the next step may be cutting off an institution entirely from the dollar-based financial system.

“You’re ​going to see a lot more of these every week,” Bessent told Reuters, ahead of a meeting of Group of 20 finance leaders.

FIRST KNOWN MILITARY ATTACKS IN WEEKS

In describing the first ​known U.S. military strikes since late July, a U.S. official said forces attacked two Iranian launchers on Larak Island.

The small island in the Strait of Hormuz near the strategic port of Bandar Abbas overlooks shipping ‌lanes at ⁠the mouth of the Gulf, giving it a key role in tension over Iran, maritime security and global energy supplies.

“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” the source added.

In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Jordan, targeting two U.S. bases. Jordan’s armed forces had intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace, state television said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and vowed a “response and punishment” from Tehran, according to Iranian state media.

In a statement, the U.S. ​Central Command said it took “limited, precise” action against ​minelaying forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that ⁠posed an “imminent threat” in the Strait of Hormuz. It gave no details.

After the U.S. strikes, Iran attacked U.S. forces station in Jordan, a Fox News reporter said on Sunday, citing a U.S. source. Nearly all incoming missiles “have been intercepted at this point,” the reporter said on ​X, flagging a lack of significant impact.

Amid threats to shipping, the number of visible commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to ​five a day over the ⁠weekend, shipping data showed.

The actual number could be higher as some vessels have switched off automatic identification systems to evade attacks.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the strait and Iran had been warned that any vessel placing new mines would be destroyed.

While Trump has repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz is open, Iran’s ⁠Revolutionary Guards’ navy ​had called those statements “an obvious lie”, reiterating that it remained closed to ships without Iranian permission.

The waterway carried ​nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before it was blockaded in the six-month-old Iran war.

Iran is the third largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

مسعود پزشکیان، رئیس‌جمهور ایران، می‌گوید صادرات و واردات این کشور در پی تحریم‌های امریکا و محاصره بنادر بحری ایران، نزدیک به ۳۵ درصد کاهش یافته است.

پزشکیان گفته است که با وجود فشارهای اقتصادی، ایران در جریان تفاهم‌نامه موقت با امریکا در ماه جون توانست حدود ۹۰ میلیون بیلر نفت بفروشد. او خواستار احیای این تفاهم‌نامه شده است.

در همین حال، حکومت ایران اعلام کرده که مقابله با پیامدهای اقتصادی جنگ و تحریم‌ها در اولویت قرار دارد. کاهش تورم، مدیریت بازار، ایجاد فرصت‌های کاری، حمایت از تولید داخلی و کاهش وابستگی به دالر از جمله برنامه‌های اعلام‌شده است.

بر اساس گزارش‌ها، تورم سالانه ایران در ماه گذشته به ۶۶ درصد رسیده است. رهبر ایران نیز از حکومت خواسته است برای کاهش مشکلات اقتصادی و معیشتی مردم اقدام جدی کند.

هم‌زمان، تهران تأکید کرده که در برابر فشارهای امریکا عقب‌نشینی نمی‌کند و تلاش‌های دیپلوماتیک را ادامه خواهد داد. قطر و پاکستان نیز برای احیای مذاکرات و تفاهم میان ایران و امریکا تلاش کرده‌اند.

تنگه هرمز نیز همچنان یکی از محورهای اصلی اختلاف میان تهران و واشنگتن است. این آبراه پیش از جنگ مسیر انتقال حدود ۲۰ درصد نفت و گاز مایع جهان بود و ایران می‌گوید کنترول آن را در اختیار دارد.

محسن رضایی، سرمنشی شورای عالی امنیت ملی ایران، می‌گوید میانجی‌ها از تهران خواسته‌اند شرایط خود برای بازگشایی تنگه هرمز را ارائه کند و ایران در حال آماده‌سازی فهرستی از این شرایط است.

به گفته او، پایان جنگ در منطقه از جمله شرایط تهران است. رضایی همچنین گفته است که ایران با ایجاد یک دهلیز عبوری مشترک با عمان موافقت کرده است؛ اما عبور کشتی‌ها از مسیر تعیین‌شده در تنگه هرمز به تحقق شرایط ایران از سوی امریکا بستگی خواهد داشت.

این اظهارات هم‌زمان با سفر صدراعظم قطر به تهران و افزایش تلاش‌های میانجی‌گران منطقه‌ای برای کاهش تنش و بازگشایی تنگه هرمز مطرح شده است.