Iran’s Qeshm Island hit in US ‘defensive’ strikes on Hormuz

Recent strikes have been kept limited and low-profile to avoid signalling a full military campaign before the US midterms.

Washington: The United States struck Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, November 2, a day before its midterm elections, even as officials described the action only as “defensive strikes” on targets in the Strait of Hormuz. The wording left out that the strikes hit Iranian territory.

Iranian state media reported several explosions on Qeshm Island and in Bandar Lengeh. Witnesses saw two planes flying over the island. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the US military had carried out the strikes, citing American officials.

The officials gave different accounts of why. One told CNN the strikes were a response to Iran firing at a US aircraft. Another said the action was “a defensive measure for Iranians using surface to air missiles against US assets.”

The Wall Street Journal quoted officials as saying the aim was to stop Iranian forces from “threatening commercial shipping” through the strait. According to reports, radar equipment and missile launchers were hit.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said earlier on Monday that it had captured two US reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm using electronic warfare systems and destroyed an MQ-9 drone east of the strait.

The latest attack was one of a series of limited strikes carried out in recent weeks. They have been kept small and deliberately low-profile so as not to signal a return to a full military campaign. President Donald Trump had earlier said the US would not strike Iran before the midterms.

Why Qeshm matters

Qeshm lies near the entrance to the strait, about 14 miles from Bandar Abbas. It houses an underground missile facility, a naval base and a major desalination plant. About 20 million barrels of oil passed through the strait every day before the war, according to CNN. The US has struck the island earlier in the conflict.

Netanyahu pushed Trump for strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for another wave of strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s elections in the United States, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter.

A return to full-scale war with Iran could help Netanyahu to form an emergency government after he and his far-right allies lost their parliamentary majority in last week’s elections. Trump has alternated between threatening major strikes and pushing for a deal with Iran.

The two officials said diplomatic efforts have made progress, with Qatari mediators holding two rounds of talks last week with Iranian officials. The two officials said the mediators are trying to advance a framework for Iran to cease its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in return for the US lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.

They said more talks are planned for this week. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified briefings they had received from American, and in one case Israeli, officials.

One official said Netanyahu was working with senior officials in the US administration to persuade Trump to launch a quick but extensive air campaign and that the president does not appear to have made a decision.

Netanyahu pressed for strikes during a call over the weekend with Trump, who would not commit to taking military action, according to a person who was briefed on it.

Other US allies in the Middle East are warning against more strikes, saying that would destabilise the region and could lead Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen to step up their attacks on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping, a third regional official said. Iran-backed militias in Iraq could also get involved.

The Israeli government did not immediately comment. The White House did not directly respond to questions about Netanyahu and Trump discussing potential new strikes during the weekend call.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said he spoke by phone on Monday with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth about “the latest regional and international developments” and the Houthis’ continued attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Trump downplays scale of Iran conflict on Election Day eve

Netanyahu had pushed for renewed strikes even before the Israeli election as he sought to highlight his security credentials to a public deeply scarred by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

But the war has also loomed large for American voters ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Oil prices dropped sharply on Monday as renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war between the US and Iran appeared to show signs of headway. Rising prices at the pump, a byproduct of the war, have been a weight on Trump’s Republican Party as it tries to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

Trump noted the drop in a speech in Washington on Monday, which was billed as his closing argument to Americans, and sought to minimize the scale of the conflict, which has cost US taxpayers at least $47 billion.

“I don’t know if you even call it a war, because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months,” Trump said.

Netanyahu has not commented on Iran since the Israeli election, and there was no word from his office on the latest call with Trump.

Iran says it is prepared for war while pursuing diplomacy

Iran wants guarantees that the US will implement its side of any agreement. The US and Israel have twice attacked Iran while it was engaged in negotiations over its disputed nuclear program.

Iranian officials say publicly they are prepared for war or diplomacy.

The new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, met with Iran’s military chiefs and said the response to “any kind and level of threat” from the US or Israel should be immediate and without “geographic limits,” and urged an expansion of the list of potential targets.

A recent analysis by The Associated Press found that Iranian strikes on more than two dozen US bases since the start of the war have caused billions of dollars in equipment damage.

Khamenei has not been seen publicly since the opening strikes by Israel and the US on Feb. 28, which killed his father, the previous supreme leader.

Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, told state television that “the tone has completely changed” from the US and called it a “very good sign.” He also gave no details about the letter he received from Vance, which Iran acknowledged last week, and said he had not responded.

Meanwhile, Vance told reporters on Monday that the Republican administration’s foremost concern is Iran agreeing to take substantive action on its nuclear program.

“We do think that there is a pathway there, but it really does require a firm commitment and a verifiable commitment that they don’t rebuild that nuclear program,” Vance added.