US Officials Say Military Carried Out Limited Strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island the Day Before the Midterms

Three U.S. officials told CBS News that the U.S. military launched “limited, defensive strikes” on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. A senior official said the strikes targeted Qeshm Island after the IRGC fired at an American aircraft. Officials told NBC News the attacks were “not a resumption of major combat operations”; one official said Iran tried to target a U.S. aircraft again, “leading to the U.S. strike on Qeshm to take out the launcher.” Those characterizations are the officials’ own. All are unnamed, and no on-record government statement is in the sources read.

The strikes came the day before the midterm elections. NBC and AP both note that Trump had said the U.S. would not launch strikes on Iran before the midterms. Iranian state media reported five explosions on Qeshm Island.

Trump, per CBS, told Fox News’ Hannity that further sites could be handled in “an hour,” calling it “not a big deal.” Al Jazeera quotes him saying of an anti-aircraft facility that “as soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely.”

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Gharibabadi said Tehran retained “the right to legitimate self-defense.” Al Jazeera reports the IRGC said three tankers exploded after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz; that is an IRGC claim, and the page read does not confirm it or link it to the strikes.