The U.S. military conducted a limited attack on Iran’s Qeshm island on Monday, according to two U.S. officials.
Officials said the U.S. attack, which came ahead of crucial U.S. midterm elections and amid regional anxiety over the possibility of all-out war, was not a resumption of major combat operations by Iran. They described the attack as self-defense and in response to Iran’s ongoing targeting of maritime shipping and U.S. assets.
A U.S. official said the United States continues to intercept drones and missiles targeting shipping every day.
A U.S. official said that in the past few weeks, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had frequently targeted and fired at U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz and the area.
The official said the United States occasionally attacks Iranian missile launchers in self-defense when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shoot at U.S. aircraft.
Iran attempted to target a U.S. aircraft again, prompting U.S. airstrikes on Qeshm Island to remove the launcher, the official said, adding it was part of an ongoing operation.
“This is a defensive measure by the Iranians to use surface-to-air missiles to attack U.S. assets,” a third U.S. official said.
Iranian state media reported that five explosions occurred on Qeshm Island on Monday.
U.S. President Trump has previously stated that the United States will not launch an attack on Iran before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The unpopular war with Iran and its impact on U.S. gasoline prices and other areas of the economy has been a Achilles’ heel in Republicans’ attempts to retain control of Congress.
It is understood that the last time the US government launched an attack was in early September, but thousands of US troops remained in the waters near Iran to maintain a naval blockade aimed at preventing tankers carrying Iranian oil from entering the global market. A third aircraft carrier and thousands of additional troops are also en route to the Middle East.
Earlier on Monday, Vice President Vance expressed optimism that a deal could still be reached to prevent Trump from following through on his threat to order new strikes against Iran after the midterm elections.
Vance sent a letter to Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezai last week, but the White House did not provide details about the letter’s content. Trump told reporters the letter focused on providing “medical supplies and various items” to Iran.
But Vance said on Monday there was reason to believe the United States and Iran could still reach a deal.
“We have had many good conversations with the Iranians,” Vance told reporters Monday when asked about the letter, adding that he and Trump “both feel very good about the prospects of a negotiated solution. We will continue to work on that.”
Vance’s comments come as the region remains nervous about the prospect of resuming full-scale U.S. action against Iran. The secret pipeline efforts come as Israel and some Middle Eastern allies lobby Trump to move forward in the eight-month war that has roiled global markets and wreaked havoc on Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for renewed attacks even before last week’s Israeli election as he seeks to emphasize his security credentials to a public traumatized by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
But the battle also looms large for American voters ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as new diplomatic efforts to end the war between the United States and Iran appeared to show signs of progress.
In a speech billed as his closing argument to Americans on Monday in Washington, Trump noted the decline and sought to minimize the scale of the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $47 billion.
“I don’t know if you call it a war because we haven’t had any fighting in months,” Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi has stated many times that Iran is open to diplomatic negotiations.
“While our brave armed forces are fully prepared to defend our homeland, Iran continues to offer diplomacy a chance to succeed,” he wrote on X last week.