US forces carried out a limited operation against targets on the Iranian island of Qeshm. US officials described the action as a defensive measure to protect the safety of their troops and assets in the region.
Three US officials, speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity, said the strikes took place on Monday after Iranian forces opened fire on a US aircraft.
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According to one of them, the action was a limited response to Iranian forces’ use of surface-to-air missiles against US assets, rather than an operation that formed part of a broader military campaign against Iran. Another official told CNN that it was the Iranians’ use of these missiles that gave the action its defensive character.
A person familiar with the matter explained that the US administration had decided not to announce the strike immediately, so it would not be perceived as a military intervention on a larger scale than it actually was.
These developments once again underscore the lack of a resolution between Washington and Tehran, as the risk of military confrontations resuming remains.
Several explosions were heard on Qeshm in the early hours of Tuesday, local time, Iran’s Fars news agency reported. The sounds were also heard on Hengam Island and in the port city of Bandar Abbas, both near the Strait of Hormuz.
Over the past week, Tehran has said it targeted several US drones in the region. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said late Monday that it had shot down two US reconnaissance drones over Qeshm.
A direct link between this claim and the US strikes has not been confirmed. Other reports say the United States has denied the claims that the drones were shot down.
Located about 22 kilometers from Bandar Abbas, Qeshm holds particular strategic importance for Iran, especially for monitoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Targets on the island have also been struck by the United States earlier in the conflict.
The strait is one of the world’s main energy routes. Before the war, around 20 million barrels of oil passed through it every day, making any disruption to shipping along this corridor a serious risk to international energy markets.
The latest strikes came as US President Donald Trump signaled that diplomatic efforts with Tehran could yield results. In a message posted on social media on Monday, he suggested that an agreement with Iran might be reached.
Iran’s foreign minister, for his part, said Tehran’s offer provides for reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the parties reach an agreement.
US Vice President JD Vance also said on Monday that progress had been made in Washington and Tehran’s efforts to end the conflict.
Vance described the Iranians as somewhat unpredictable and recalled that, as the president often says, both military and nonmilitary tools remain available to him. He stressed that progress had been made, but it remained to be seen whether more could be achieved.
The vice president also said he had spoken with Trump shortly beforehand about the situation, and that both viewed the possibility of an agreement optimistically.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump did not directly address reports of the latest attacks in Iran. However, he indicated that another possible US target was “Pickaxe Mountain,” an underground nuclear facility where Israel suspects some of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and advanced enrichment equipment are kept.
According to Trump, such an operation would not be particularly difficult and could be carried out within an hour, whenever the United States wished. Since the war began, the US president has raised the possibility of striking the facility several times.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament and head of negotiations with the United States, issued a new warning.
Ghalibaf said the enemy’s threats and military actions would not force the Iranian people to submit. He also warned that any mistake by the adversary would be met with an unpredictable military and strategic response from Iran.
Earlier, on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had warned that a new major attack would bring a response with no geographic limits.
A senior security official in Tehran meanwhile told CNN that Iran’s potential targets were not limited to oil infrastructure, but could also include infrastructure in other sectors, including artificial intelligence.
Reports of the strikes on Qeshm were immediately reflected in international markets: oil prices rose in early Asian trading.
Before the news emerged, prices had been trending downward as investors closely watched the progress of diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran.
