US Conducts Defensive Strikes on Iranian Targets in Strait of Hormuz, Official Says

A US official said on Monday that American forces have carried out defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. The disclosure came as an alert, with no detail yet on which targets were hit, when, or with what result. It landed in the middle of a day otherwise built around the hope of a deal.

Earlier on Monday, Vice President JD Vance offered measured optimism that the United States and Iran can still reach an agreement and head off President Donald Trump's threat of new strikes after Tuesday's midterm elections. Vance had sent a letter last week to Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei. The White House has said little about it, and Trump told reporters it dealt with helping Iran with "medical supplies and various things." Vance said he had spoken with Trump about an hour before talking to reporters, and that both men feel "pretty good" about the prospects of a negotiated settlement.

His foremost concern, he said, is that Iran take substantive action on its nuclear program. He described a pathway that requires a firm, verifiable commitment that Iran will not rebuild it. Rezaei told state television that "the tone has completely changed" from Washington and called that a "very good sign." He also gave no details of the letter, which Iran acknowledged last week, and said he has not replied.

Behind the scenes, the pressures pull in different directions. According to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for another wave of strikes on Iran after the US vote. One official said he is working with senior US administration figures to persuade Trump to launch a quick but extensive air campaign, and that Trump does not appear to have decided. In a weekend call, Netanyahu pressed the case and Trump would not commit, according to a person briefed on it. A return to full-scale war could help Netanyahu form an emergency government after he and his far-right allies lost their parliamentary majority in last week's Israeli elections. Neither his office nor the White House directly addressed the call.

The diplomatic track is also moving. The two officials said Qatari mediators held two rounds of talks with Iranian officials last week, working on a framework in which Iran would stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the US would lift its blockade of Iran's ports. More talks are planned this week. Iran wants guarantees that Washington will honor its side, noting that the US and Israel have twice attacked Iran while nuclear negotiations were underway.

Other US allies in the region are urging restraint. A third regional official said more strikes would destabilize the area and could prompt Yemen's Houthi rebels to intensify attacks on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping, and Iran-backed militias in Iraq could join in. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman spoke by phone with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about regional developments and the Houthis' continued attacks on Saudi Arabia. At the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, UAE adviser Anwar Gargash said the US and Iranian positions are far apart and that if they are not bridged, "we have to worry about the worst." Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned the next escalation would be "more dangerous, more destructive." October saw the most attacks on commercial ships in the strait since March.

Iran's posture is defiant. New supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei told military chiefs that any response to a US or Israeli threat should be immediate and without "geographic limits," and urged a wider list of potential targets. He has not been seen publicly since the opening US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, which killed his father, the previous supreme leader. An AP analysis found Iranian strikes on more than two dozen US bases have caused billions of dollars in equipment damage.

The war, now eight months old, has also reached American politics. Oil prices fell sharply Monday on signs of diplomatic progress, a relief for Republicans weighed down by high gas prices. In a closing-argument speech, Trump said, "I don't know if you even call it a war, because we haven't been doing any fighting for months," even though the conflict has cost taxpayers at least $47 billion. China, meanwhile, will send a special envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November.

What to watch now: details of the Hormuz strikes, whether the Qatari-mediated talks advance this week, and what Trump decides once the election is over.