The United States carried out an attack on Qeshm Island in southern Iran, the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials, after Iranian media reported hearing explosions on the island early Tuesday morning.
The attack followed remarks by US President Donald Trump in which he played down the possibility of returning to war with Iran following Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said: “We had a war with Iran and we won. I don’t even know if you can call it a war, because we haven’t had any fighting for months.”
However, officials said the United States has been carrying out smaller-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks. Some described the attacks as defensive operations aimed at preventing Tehran from gaining the freedom to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Unlike during earlier stages of the war, the United States has not publicly announced these strikes.
One official said the United States was deliberately keeping the campaign secret to avoid signaling any intention to resume large-scale combat operations.
Qeshm Island lies at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz and hosts a major underground missile facility, as well as a naval base and a key desalination plant.
The United States has targeted the island during previous rounds of fighting, while US officials have also discussed the possibility of taking control of it.
In the early hours of Tuesday, five explosions were heard across Qeshm Island, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.
An IRNA correspondent on the island reported that the explosions occurred one after another in rapid succession, adding that their intensity suggested they may have been strikes targeting sites on the island.
Some residents, according to IRNA, reported seeing two aircraft in the skies over Qeshm Island.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Fars news agency reported hearing explosions from the direction of the sea near Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan Province, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, in the early hours of Tuesday.
No official Iranian statement has been issued so far regarding the developments.
Source: The Wall Street Journal / IRNA / Fars
