U.S. officials say U.S. carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island; Pentagon has not confirmed

As of 7:27 a.m. ET, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026

The United States carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials told several news organizations, hours before Americans began voting in Tuesday's midterm elections. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, and the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command and the White House have not confirmed the strikes on the record.

The strikes "appeared to be limited and were not a resumption of major combat operations," a U.S. official told Reuters on Monday. Another official told Reuters they were "defensive measures against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets."

The reports matter because President Donald Trump had said the United States would not launch strikes on Iran before the midterms, AP reported, and because talks on ending the war are continuing through mediators. AP reported that the administration was last known to have carried out attacks in early September; unlike earlier in the war, these strikes were not publicly announced.

What U.S. officials have said

The Wall Street Journal reported the strikes Monday evening, citing U.S. officials. Agence France-Presse reported that unnamed U.S. officials cited by the Journal, CNN and The New York Times described the attacks as defensive. According to AFP, the Journal said the strike was the latest of several undeclared U.S. strikes and that they had not been announced to avoid the impression that Washington intended to resume major combat operations.

The Pentagon referred Reuters' request for comment to Central Command, which did not respond, Reuters reported. CENTCOM also did not immediately respond to AFP. As of 7:27 a.m. ET, CENTCOM had not posted about Qeshm on its X account; its most recent posts, on Monday, did not mention Iran.

U.S. officials have not said on the record what was hit, and there has been no official account of damage or casualties. Asked whether Israel was involved, an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP, "No."

What Iran has said

Iran's state news agency IRNA reported at 3:59 p.m. ET Monday (just after midnight Tuesday in Iran) that five explosions had been heard in rapid succession on Qeshm. IRNA's reporter said the impacts appeared to be on the island itself and that some residents reported two aircraft flying overhead. Local and provincial officials had made no official comment, IRNA said. Iranian state media also reported explosions on nearby Hengam Island and in the mainland area of Bandar Abbas, AP reported.

On Tuesday, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator with the United States, said Iran had given "a firm and rational response to the American side, and now the ball is in America's court to prevent war," IRNA reported. Qalibaf said Iran's forces were at "the highest level of defensive readiness" and warned that if Washington "again makes a strategic error," it would face "a new battlefield." The portions of the speech to parliament that IRNA published did not mention Qeshm. The quotes are GROKsiNEWS.com translations from Persian.

Talks and the midterms

The reports came hours after Trump wrote on Truth Social that "Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible," AFP reported. Vice President JD Vance told reporters Monday that he and Trump "both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement," adding, "We've certainly made some progress." AP noted that Vance spoke before a U.S. official described the strikes to AP.

Iran has said it has a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks if Washington meets its demands, AP reported.

What is not known

It is not known what targets were struck, how many strikes there were, whether anyone was killed or hurt, or what damage was done. No U.S. official has spoken on the record about the strikes, and Iran's government had not publicly attributed the Qeshm explosions to the United States in the IRNA reports reviewed for this story.