US forces reportedly hit Iran's Qeshm island as midterm vote nears

US strikes on Qeshm island

The Wall Street Journal reported that US armed forces struck the Iranian island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, 2 November, citing American officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Those officials described the raids as part of a series of limited bombing attacks on Iran over the past few weeks. Iran's official news agency IRNA reported five explosions on Qeshm and said residents saw two aircraft flying over the area. The Pentagon referred questions from AFP to US Central Command (CENTCOM), which had not replied immediately.

The raids come on the eve of the US midterm elections and within a war that began with US and Israeli bombing of Iran on 28 February. Since then Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz and targets ships that try to cross without its permission almost every day. According to one Journal source, the US military wants the strikes kept quiet so they do not suggest preparations for a large-scale operation. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran wants a deal as soon as possible and that one could be reached.

Trump and Netanyahu clash over timing

Axios reported that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone on Saturday, 31 October, and that the call was difficult and blunt. Netanyahu pressed for strikes on Iran to resume quickly, while Trump favoured giving diplomacy more time. An Israeli source described the exchange as harsh, and a US official called it direct and frank, but neither the White House nor Netanyahu's office would comment. Netanyahu is himself politically exposed after losing his majority in the Knesset. Qatari mediators met Iranian officials on Sunday, 1 November.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that the talks were going well and that he was in no hurry. He added that Iranians were not especially reliable, because they agree to deals and then back away from them. Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, Iran's top national security official, which marks the highest-level US contact with Tehran in months.

Pickaxe Mountain and the planned strike

Trump said the US would need to deal with one or two nuclear facilities in Iran. He singled out a suspected site built inside Pickaxe Mountain and said a strike on it was already planned and could be completed within ten minutes. Reports say the US warned Gulf allies to prepare for a possible new clash that could begin as early as 4 November, the day after the midterms.

Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen told a Birthright Israel conference in Tel Aviv that he believed another targeted military operation against Iran would eventually take place, because Tehran keeps developing its capabilities. He also said Iranians do not negotiate in good faith.

Pressure inside the US administration

The Atlantic reported that Trump has been questioning advisers about the performance of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both are described as strong backers of the war. Advisers had assured Trump before the conflict began in late February that it would be over well before the midterms. Eight months on, the war remains deeply unpopular, oil prices have surged and the disruption to shipping through Hormuz keeps economic pressure high.

Hegseth also removed Maj. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a senior military planner. Caine's office first issued a statement thanking Sylvia for decades of service, then said that statement did not fully reflect the circumstances.