US Central Command confirms limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island
The US says the strikes targeted missile batteries used in attacks on its planes, describing the operation as defensive.
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The US says the strikes targeted missile batteries used in attacks on its planes, describing the operation as defensive.
US Central Command has confirmed limited US strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island late on 2 November 2026. The US described the strikes as defensive and said they targeted missile batteries from which Iranian attacks on US planes had been mounted the previous day, The Guardian said.
The war began when the US and Israel attacked Iran in February 2026. Qeshm lies off Iran’s southern coast at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil shipments that has been largely blocked since the war began.
The strikes came on the eve of the 3 November US midterm elections, which determine whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. The Guardian reported that war-driven increases in petrol prices had become a major election issue because of their effect on living costs.
US officials had earlier told news outlets that the operation followed Iranian fire at a US aircraft. Officials quoted by CBS identified the force that fired as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military force separate from Iran’s regular army.
Earlier on 2 November, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had captured two US reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm using electronic warfare systems and destroyed an MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said 5 explosions were heard in rapid succession on the island and that some residents saw 2 aircraft overhead. The island has previously been used to launch attacks on shipping in the strait.
The Guardian’s initial report said that, if confirmed, the attack would mark the first publicly known US strike on Iran in weeks. The Wall Street Journal had earlier described the operation as part of a series of previously undisclosed US strikes in recent weeks. Some officials told the newspaper the strikes were intended to restrict Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the added import cost since the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz bought no extra energy. She argues Europe should import less fuel.
US Vice President JD Vance said on 2 November that negotiations had made some progress and that he and President Donald Trump were optimistic about a potential settlement with Iran. Trump said that day that a deal with Tehran “could happen” and answered “no” when asked whether he was considering strikes after the midterm elections. In a Fox News interview, he also said the US “might need to go after Pickaxe”, a site linked to Iran’s nuclear programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told IRNA that “very intensive” talks to end the war were under way with the US through mediators and said Tehran was prepared for both diplomatic and military scenarios.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran’s plan to reopen the strait depended on Washington meeting conditions that included lifting the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and securing an end to hostilities. He said the plan could be implemented within two days if Washington met Tehran’s conditions and would also enable renewed negotiations.
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The International Maritime Organization estimates 121 incidents in Hormuz and the wider region since the war began, including 24 confirmed seafarer deaths, as commercial shipping continues through the strait.
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UK Maritime Trade Operations said all crew members were accounted for and no environmental damage was reported after the Persian Gulf strike. The tanker’s identity and the extent of its damage remain unknown.
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