US carries out limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island ahead of midterm election

The United States military carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz, Monday night, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the report, which cites U.S. officials, the strikes are the latest in a series of limited military actions that Washington has secretly conducted against targets in Iran over the past few weeks, even as it seeks to resume negotiations.

Iranian state television reported explosions on Qeshm Island, while state news outlet Islamic Revolutionary News Agency reported that two U.S. MQM-170 Outlaw drones were “grounded in the skies south of Qeshm Island by the advanced electronic warfare systems of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

At the time of publication, there were no reports of Iranian retaliation to the strikes.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagger Ghalibaf, in a speech early Tuesday morning, again threatened an unpredictable response by Iranian forces, in the event that the U.S. resumes military operations in Iran.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s military and strategic response to any miscalculation by the enemy will be unpredictable, disregarding geographical constraints,” Ghalibaf told the parliament ahead of the “National Day of Struggle against Global Arrogance,” “we will dismantle their erroneous calculations and strike at their tangible and intangible assets.”

Iranian military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia issued a similar warning earlier this week.

“Any further American aggression will be met with an immediate and crushing response, on a broader scale than before. If a new war breaks out, the theater of confrontation will not be limited to West Asia," Akraminia said.

The strikes on Qeshm Island come amid reported diplomatic contacts between the administration of President Donald Trump and Tehran, aimed at resuming negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

In the lead-up to midterm elections on Tuesday, President Trump has been downplaying the possibility of resuming military operations in Iran.

On Monday, President Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity, “We had a war with Iran. We won.”

“I don’t know if you even call it a war because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months,” he added.

At the same time, the president said that military operations could resume if Iran does not pursue a deal.

“This isn't a war. It's a very soft war. But this isn't like a war that's going on. There’s no war raging,” Trump continued. “It could happen if they don’t make a deal.”

In his interview with Hannity, Trump reiterated his threat to strike Pickaxe Mountain.

“With [Operation] Midnight Hammer, we bombed out all of their potential nuclear power. Now we might have to go after Pickaxe [Mountain], but that's not a big deal. We can do it in literally one hour.”

Trump on Iran: We might have to go after Pickaxe, but that's not a big deal. We can do it in literally one hour. https://t.co/knY5XR1Odq

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 3, 2026

Trump also stated that the U.S. is dealing from a position of “total strength,” after decimating Iran’s military.

“If I can make a deal, I would rather do it,” Trump told Hannity, “save a lot of lives.”

TRUMP: “What we’ve done is amazing.” President Trump defends Operation Midnight Hammer during an Election Eve interview with @seanhannity, claiming the U.S. has destroyed Iran’s military and navy. “Their military is gone, the navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone.” Tune in to the Fox News Channel for live midterm election coverage.

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 3, 2026

Trump's comments just days after he told reporters that the U.S. still needs to take care of “one or two sites” in Iran.

The U.S. officials told the WSJ that the strikes carried out by the United States in Iran were defensive in nature, explaining that Iran had used surface-to-air missiles against an American fighter jet.

The officials said that in an incident earlier Monday, a U.S. fighter jet was fired on by Iranian surface-to-air (SAM) sites on Qeshm Island. The jet returned fire on the SAM site in self-defense. That same site was targeted in the strikes Monday night.

The Monday night strikes, just hours before the U.S. midterm elections, were not announced on the U.S. military’s Central Command social media channel or website, in an apparent attempt to minimize any signal of resuming combat operations.

Vice President JD Vance told reporters earlier on Monday that “We've had a number of good conversations with the Iranians.”

“I actually just spoke with the president of the United States about an hour ago about this,” Vance said at the time. “Look, the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. We're going to keep on working at it.”

Meanwhile, mediators from Qatar are engaged in talks with Iranian representatives, seeking to facilitate an arrangement between Washington and Tehran. These discussions are aimed at preventing a renewal of military operations, which the Qatari government opposes.

Qeshm Island is located in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz. It is reportedly home to a large underground missile facility, as well as a naval base. Its strategic location has allowed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to threaten vessels traversing the Strait.

Israeli security officials said Monday evening that the Jewish State will not alone against the Iranian regime, unless it identifies preparations for an immediate attack.

Over the past few days, additional U.S. planes and munitions have arrived in Israel ahead of a potential renewal of military operations, and residents in central Israel reported hearing the sounds of multiple fighter jets conducting training runs.

At the same time, British military analyst Andrew Fox posted on Substack, “My sources tell me that a new U.S. strike campaign against Iran will begin on Thursday, 5 November. Some suggest it could last two weeks.”

Fox also identified Pickaxe Mountain as a probable target in any renewed strikes on mainland Iran.