U.S. officials cited by The Wall Street Journal and CNN said American forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island on Nov. 2, as indirect U.S.-Iran talks continued during an eight-month conflict that has disrupted global markets.
CNN cited three officials who described the operation as limited and defensive. One linked it to Iranian fire at a U.S. aircraft; another said it was meant to protect U.S. assets. Gulf News reported that the Pentagon referred questions to U.S. Central Command, which had not answered an AFP request by late Monday.
Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, reported five explosions on Qeshm in the early hours of Tuesday, Nov. 3. It also relayed residents’ accounts of two aircraft overhead but did not identify the cause of the blasts. EconoTimes previously covered reports of explosions on Qeshm.
Qeshm sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. The Journal said officials described the U.S. strikes as an effort to reduce threats to commercial shipping there. It also reported that officials had described earlier U.S. attacks on Iran that Washington had not announced.
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran wanted a settlement as soon as possible. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described consultations as intensive.
