WASHINGTON — The US military carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday, three US officials told CNN, describing the attack as defensive in nature and meant to protect US assets in the region. The Wall Street Journal first revealed the operation, which followed explosions reported on the island by Iran's state media outlet IRNA, Reuters reported.
Source: CNN
One US official told CNN the attack came in response to Iran firing at a US aircraft. "This was a defensive measure for Iranians using surface to air missiles against US assets," another official said. A person familiar with the matter said the administration deliberately kept the attack under wraps so as not to overstate the defensive move, CNN reported.
Source: CNN
Other officials described the assaults as defensive in nature to prevent Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing the Wall Street Journal. Monday's strike was the latest in a series of limited strikes Washington has carried out in recent weeks on a smaller scale and purposefully kept secret so as not to signal any intent of resuming its major military campaign against Iran, the Journal said.
Source: Reuters
Why Qeshm Island matters
Qeshm Island sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, about 14 miles from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, and is key to Iran asserting control over traffic through the strait, through which about 20 million barrels of oil passed every day before the war, CNN reported. The US has targeted the island previously in the war. The US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
Source: CNN
Revealed the same day Trump said 'no' to new strikes
The revelation is a major new development on top of Monday's earlier development: President Donald Trump raised doubts the same day about whether he would follow through on a threatened resumption of military strikes against Iran, answered "no" when reporters asked if he was considering striking Iran after Tuesday's midterm elections, and said a deal with Tehran could happen. Vice President JD Vance said the US and Iran had "made some progress" toward an off-ramp to the war, and Tehran said contacts with Washington to end the war were continuing after talks with Qatari mediators ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters
Read the earlier development this strike revelation follows: Trump had publicly ruled out new post-midterm strikes as Vance cited progress in talks. Trump rules out new Iran strikes after the midterms
Oil prices react, Iranian claim labelled
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Tuesday after the strike report raised concerns about an escalation of the eight-month conflict and prolonged disruption to Middle East supplies, Reuters reported. Brent had settled $8.66, or 7.63%, lower at $104.77 a barrel on Monday as deal hopes grew. Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed, via Press TV, that US drones were intercepted and brought down south of Qeshm and east of the Hormuz Strait — a claim reported by FXStreet and not independently verified.
Source: Reuters / FXStreet
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important oil and gas routes. Any escalation that disrupts shipping there typically pushes up crude, fuel and freight costs — felt in Punjab and across India at the petrol pump and by truckers — and it directly affects the safety and earnings of the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers across the Gulf. No market reaction beyond Tuesday's early oil rise has been reported yet.
The US-Iran conflict began in late February and has sharply reduced shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. What happens next — whether diplomacy through Qatari mediators produces a deal, or the limited strikes widen — remains unresolved, and no casualty figures from Monday's Qeshm strike had been reported by CNN, Reuters or the Wall Street Journal at the time of publishing.
Source: Reuters