US Conducts Limited Defensive Strikes on Iranian Targets in Strait of Hormuz on Eve of Midterms

On Monday, the eve of the midterm elections, a U.S. official said American forces had carried out defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state television reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity, said the targets were "Iranians using surface to air missiles against U.S. assets." The strikes were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

They appeared limited rather than a return to full hostilities. Still, they came after President Donald Trump had said the U.S. would not launch new strikes on Iran before Tuesday's vote. The war is more than eight months old and unpopular, and its effect on gasoline prices and the wider economy has been a vulnerability for Republicans trying to keep control of Congress. The last attacks the administration was known to have carried out came in early September. Thousands of U.S. troops remain in the waters off Iran enforcing a naval blockade meant to keep tankers carrying Iranian oil from reaching global markets, and a third aircraft carrier and thousands more troops are headed to the Middle East.

Before the strikes were confirmed, Vice President JD Vance had struck a measured note of optimism. He sent a letter last week to Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, and the White House has given few details. Trump told reporters the letter concerned helping Iran with "medical supplies and various things." Vance told reporters Monday that there had been "a number of good conversations with the Iranians," that he had spoken with Trump about an hour earlier, and that both men felt "pretty good" about the prospects for a negotiated settlement. Rezaei told Iranian state television that "the tone has completely changed" from the U.S., calling it a "very good sign." He gave no details of the letter and said he had not responded.

Pressure on Trump is coming from several directions. According to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for another wave of strikes after the U.S. elections. One official said he was working with senior U.S. administration figures to persuade Trump to order a quick but extensive air campaign, and that the president did not appear to have decided. A person briefed on a weekend call between the two said Netanyahu pressed for strikes and Trump would not commit. 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 elections. The Israeli government did not immediately comment, and the White House did not directly answer questions about the call.

Other U.S. allies in the region are urging restraint. A third regional official said they warn that more strikes would destabilize the region and could prompt Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi rebels to escalate attacks on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping, with Iran-backed militias in Iraq possibly joining in. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said he spoke Monday with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about regional developments and the Houthis' continued attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Diplomacy is moving in parallel. The two regional officials said Qatari mediators held two rounds of talks with Iranian officials last week, working on a framework under which Iran would stop attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. would lift its blockade of Iran's ports. More talks are planned this week. Both officials spoke anonymously because they were describing classified briefings from American and, in one case, Israeli officials. Oil prices fell sharply Monday as the diplomatic effort appeared to gain ground.

Trump noted the drop in a Washington speech billed as his closing argument, and played down the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $47 billion. "I don't know if you even call it a war, because we haven't been doing any fighting for months," he said. Iran says it is ready for either war or diplomacy and wants guarantees that Washington will honor any deal; the U.S. and Israel have twice attacked Iran while it was negotiating over its disputed nuclear program. New supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei told military chiefs that the response to "any kind and level of threat" should be immediate and without "geographic limits," and urged widening the list of potential targets. An Associated Press analysis found Iranian strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases have caused billions of dollars in equipment damage.

The mood was grim at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain. October saw the most attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz since March. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the U.S. and Iranian positions are far apart and that, if unbridged, "we have to worry about the worst." Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned the next escalation would be "more dangerous, more destructive." China will send a special envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November. What to watch now is whether Netanyahu's push for a broader campaign gains traction, and whether this week's talks produce a deal on the blockade.