US Conducts Limited Strikes Near Strait of Hormuz as Netanyahu Presses Trump for Wider Iran Campaign

On Monday, the eve of the U.S. 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 explosions 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 Wall Street Journal reported the strikes first.

The strikes appeared limited rather than a return to full hostilities. They did follow President Donald Trump's earlier statement that the U.S. would not launch new strikes on Iran before Tuesday's vote. The war is now more than eight months old and unpopular, and its effects on gasoline prices and the wider economy have left Republicans vulnerable as they try to keep control of Congress. The administration was last known to have attacked 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 the global market, and a third aircraft carrier and thousands more troops are heading to the Middle East.

Before the strikes were confirmed, Vice President JD Vance had struck a measured, hopeful note. Last week he sent a letter 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 said Monday that he had spoken with Trump about an hour earlier and that both felt "pretty good" about the chances of a negotiated settlement. Rezaei told state television that "the tone has completely changed" on the American side and called it a "very good sign." He gave no details of the letter and said he had not replied.

Pressure for a different course is coming from Israel. According to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for another wave of strikes after the U.S. elections. One official said he is working with senior U.S. administration figures to win Trump over to a quick but extensive air campaign, and that Trump does 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. The report notes that 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 Houthis to step up attacks on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping, and Iran-backed militias in Iraq could also join in. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said he spoke Monday with U.S. 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 and are trying to advance a framework in which Iran would stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. would lift its blockade of Iran's ports. More talks are planned this week. The officials were describing classified briefings from American and, in one case, Israeli officials. Oil prices fell sharply Monday as the diplomatic signs improved. In a Washington speech billed as his closing argument, Trump noted the drop 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. It wants guarantees that Washington will honor any deal, since the U.S. and Israel have twice attacked it during nuclear negotiations. 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. October brought the most attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz since March.

At the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, the mood was grim. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the U.S. and Iranian positions are far apart and that without a bridge, "we have to worry about the worst." Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned the next escalation "will be more dangerous, more destructive, and it will lead to nowhere." China said it will send a special envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November. The coming days should show whether the Qatari-mediated talks advance or a wider air campaign follows.