US strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island ahead of midterm elections - Prothom Alo English
Aerial view of Iran’s coast and Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.File photo: ReutersThe United States on Monday attacked Iran's Qeshm Island, the Wall Street Journal reported, even as President Donald Trump signaled progress in negotiations with Tehran to end the eight-month-old conflict.
The Journal, citing unnamed US officials, described the strike against Qeshm, the the largest island in the Strait of Hormuz, as the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against Iran in recent weeks.
Iranian state news agency IRNA reported five explosions in rapid succession were heard on the island, and that some residents reported seeing two aircraft flying in its skies.
The Pentagon referred questions about the reported strikes to US Central Command, which did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment late Monday.
The Journal reported that US has been engaged in smaller-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks.
A citizen casts an early vote in the US midterm elections in San Francisco, California, on 17 October 2026.ReutersThe paper said the US has not publicly announced the attacks, so as not to signal any intention of resuming major combat operations.
It said some officials described the assaults as defensive in nature to prevent Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for oil shipments that has been largely blocked since the war began in late February.
On Monday, on the eve of midterm elections in the United States, Trump said that a deal with Tehran "could happen."
Oil prices, sent rocketing by Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz energy corridor, plunged by more than seven percent on Monday on optimism over a possible end to the conflict.
