US Carries Out Limited Strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island After Iranian Fire at US Aircraft, Officials Say
Washington — Multiple U.S. officials confirmed on Monday, November 2, that the U.S. military carried out limited strikes that day on Iran's Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz. The officials said the strikes were a response to Iranian fire at a U.S. aircraft, were defensive in nature, and were meant to protect U.S. assets in the region. The action came less than a day before the November 3 U.S. midterm elections. The targets, damage and any casualties have not been released, and the situation is still developing.
Three U.S. officials told CNN the action was limited. One official said the U.S. attack came in response to Iran firing at a U.S. aircraft; another said, "This was a defensive measure for Iranians using surface to air missiles against US assets." The Wall Street Journal first revealed the operation, and the Associated Press and Reuters subsequently carried similar accounts citing U.S. officials. According to CNN, officials said other such limited strikes had been carried out in previous weeks without being publicized.
Iran's state-affiliated Fars News Agency reported that several explosions were heard on Qeshm Island in the early hours of Tuesday local time, and that the blasts were also heard by residents of nearby Hengam Island and the port city of Bandar Abbas. U.S. Central Command has not publicly commented, and the Pentagon referred questions to Central Command.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed earlier on Monday that it had captured two U.S. reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm and shot down an MQ-9 drone east of the strait. According to ABC, a U.S. official said part of that claim was false; the claim has not been independently verified.
Qeshm Island lies about 14 miles (about 23 kilometers) from Bandar Abbas and is key to Iran's attempts to assert control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 million barrels of oil passed every day before the war. The United States has targeted the island previously in the war, which began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February.
The strikes came while U.S.-Iran diplomacy was still under way. President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Monday that an agreement with Tehran "could happen." In a Fox News appearance that aired Monday night, he did not specifically address the Qeshm reports, but said the United States "might have to go after" Pickaxe Mountain, the suspected underground nuclear site where Israel believes Tehran has stored part of its enriched uranium stockpile, adding, "We can do that in one hour." Earlier this month, Trump had said the United States would not attack Iran before the midterms. Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Monday that the United States and Iran had "made some progress" toward an off ramp to the war.
Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned as recently as Saturday that a major new attack would be met with a response "without geographical limitations." Oil prices rose in early Asian trading on Tuesday after news of the Qeshm Island strike broke. As of publication, Central Command has not released the targets or results of the strikes, and Iran has not released casualty or damage figures.
Source: U.S. officials
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：伊朗格什姆岛卫星影像（资料图）。美国国家航空航天局（NASA）摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Satellite image of Qeshm Island, Iran (file photo). By NASA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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