US strikes Iran's Qeshm Island hours before midterm vote, as Trump confirms the attack

Strikes on Qeshm Island

US officials told several American outlets, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the United States carried out limited and defensive strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on the night of Monday, 2 November. The Wall Street Journal reported that the attack was the latest in a series of limited strikes Washington had carried out in secret in the weeks before 2 November, avoiding public announcements so as not to suggest a return to full-scale combat. CNN, citing three US officials, described the action as defensive and aimed at protecting American assets in the region. The US Central Command did not announce the operations. Iranian state media reported explosions on the island, with IRNA counting five blasts and Fars reporting that residents of nearby Hengam and the port city of Bandar Abbas also heard them. According to EFE, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed to have shot down two US reconnaissance drones near Qeshm.

Trump confirms the attack

On Tuesday, 3 November, Trump confirmed the strike in a telephone interview with Fox News, saying US forces had hit an Iranian air defense installation shortly after it was completed. He said Iran had spent about two months building the site and that US forces had watched it go up. Trump described the operation as a minor attack and rejected the idea that it amounted to a war. He also drew a parallel with the January military operation in Venezuela, which sources say killed more than 100 people and led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Trump further claimed that Iran's navy was at the bottom of the sea and no longer had combat aircraft. On Monday, when asked whether he would order new strikes on Iran after Tuesday's vote, he answered no.

Tehran's response and the talks

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that renewed hostilities would benefit no one, and that his government was seeking a way out of the conflict through dialogue.

“Nobody will benefit from this war.”

He said the supreme leader had given the government powers to address questions previously considered taboo in the talks, without specifying which questions. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran retained the right to self-defense for as long as military aggression had not been fully and definitively halted. Asked about the Qeshm strikes, he did not expressly confirm that they had taken place. Qatar, which is mediating between the two sides, said it still hoped for an agreement. US Vice President JD Vance also spoke of progress in the talks, and Trump said on Monday that Tehran wanted a deal as quickly as possible.

Election backdrop

The strikes came hours before voting began in the US midterm elections, with surveys pointing to a Democratic victory and a possible change of majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Colonel Carlos Mendes Dias, speaking on Observador Radio, argued that foreign policy is American policy rather than Trump's alone, and that a change of majority would condition it to some extent. He pointed to Senate powers such as confirming presidential appointments and ratifying treaties. US outlets including Axios have reported the possibility that the war could resume after the vote. RTVE's fact-checking team also found old Trump statements and out-of-context videos circulating on social media that have no link to the strikes.

What remains unclear

The sources do not report casualties or damage from the Qeshm strikes. The Israeli army told AFP that it was not involved in these operations. Iran displayed a large billboard in Tehran showing Trump behind bars with his head lowered. The Trump administration has described the strikes as defensive, and the talks have not yet produced an announced agreement.