Qeshm: US officials say the blasts were “defensive” American strikes on a missile launcher, on the eve of the midterms

The explosions heard late on Monday, November 2, on Iran’s Qeshm island were American strikes. This is reported by major US outlets citing US officials. The Wall Street Journal was first to write about the strikes, followed by the Associated Press, NBC and Reuters. The officials describe them as “defensive” and say they are not a return to major combat operations against Iran.

As we reported overnight, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported successive explosions on Qeshm without explaining the cause. Eyewitnesses told IRNA they saw two aircraft flying over the island, while the semi-official Fars agency reported explosions also in the port city of Bandar Lengeh, from the sea side. Iranian state media reported five explosions.

The target: a surface-to-air missile launcher

“It was a defensive measure against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against American assets,” one of the US officials who spoke to NBC said. Another official said Iran again tried to target a US aircraft and the strike on Qeshm was aimed at destroying the launcher. The Revolutionary Guards have in recent weeks been targeting and firing regularly at US manned and unmanned aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz, and the US occasionally strikes Iranian launchers when it comes under fire, one of the officials told NBC.

Fox News and Axios reporters said the strikes were a response to Guards’ fire at a US aircraft in the Strait on Monday. A US official told Fox News the incident does not mean the start of broader American strikes.

A quiet campaign

The Wall Street Journal writes that the strikes on Qeshm belong to a series of smaller-scale attacks in recent weeks that the Trump administration deliberately kept secret so as not to give the impression it is returning to war. Some officials told the paper the aim is to limit Iran’s ability to hit commercial shipping. US Central Command (CENTCOM) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Qeshm, at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, has been used in the past as a base for attacks on shipping, and the US has struck it several times during the war. Earlier on Monday the Guards claimed they captured two US drones, which they described as reconnaissance aircraft, south of the island.

Diplomacy and strikes on the same day

Donald Trump had said the US would not attack Iran before Tuesday’s midterm elections, and earlier on Monday answered “no” when asked whether he is considering new strikes after the election. The strikes also came just hours after Vice President JD Vance said “some progress” had been made in contacts with Tehran. The Trump administration had, as far as is known, carried out its latest attacks in early September. Thousands of US military personnel remain off Iran for the naval blockade, while a third aircraft carrier and thousands more troops are heading to the Middle East.