US struck Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday in secret limited strikes, Wall Street Journal reports
The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reports American forces struck Qeshm Island on Monday in the latest of a series of undisclosed limited strikes, even as President Donald Trump played down a return to war, sending oil prices higher in early Asian trade on Tuesday.
The United States struck Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, US officials have told the Wall Street Journal, in the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against Iran in recent weeks even as President Donald Trump has publicly talked up the possibility of a diplomatic deal. The report, published on Monday night US time, gives a claimed explanation for explosions reported on the island earlier that day, which until now had no official explanation.
Some of the officials cited by the Journal described the assaults as defensive in nature, aimed at preventing Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Unlike earlier phases of the eight-month war, the attacks have not been publicly announced. One official told the Journal the campaign was being kept quiet deliberately, so as not to signal any intention to resume major combat operations.
Qeshm matters because of where it sits and what it holds. The island lies at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a large share of the world’s traded oil and liquefied natural gas has historically moved. According to the Journal, it is home to a large underground missile site as well as a naval base and a major desalination plant, and the United States has targeted the island in earlier rounds of the fighting, with officials having discussed seizing it.
The report follows a confusing sequence on Monday. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported several explosions on Qeshm Island, with residents also reporting aircraft overhead, but gave no cause and no official statement followed. That unexplained incident was already reported on News Orbit Live on Monday night. The Journal’s account now links those explosions to a US strike, but it rests on unnamed US officials: the US Defense Department referred questions to US Central Command, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Iran has not issued an official response to the strike claim.
The timing is striking because of what Trump said in public on the same day. Asked after his closing midterm speech at the Lincoln Memorial whether he was considering striking Iran after the elections, he answered “No”, and he has said the United States has not been fighting Iran for months. Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, said Washington felt “pretty good” about the prospects of a negotiated settlement. The Journal’s reporting suggests a quieter, smaller-scale campaign has continued alongside that public language.
The Journal also reported military preparations that point beyond a single strike. It said Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper briefed Trump at the White House last week, that the command has moved additional missile defences and munitions into the region in recent weeks, and that the United States has told Gulf nations to prepare for a short and intense operation shortly after Tuesday’s midterm elections. None of that amounts to a confirmed plan for a wider operation, and the report itself frames it as groundwork and warnings, not an announcement.
On the Iranian side, the public position on Monday was that the next move rests with Washington. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran’s demands for a deal had been communicated clearly and were reasonable, and that no agreement on reopening or securing the Strait of Hormuz could begin unless the United States ends its naval blockade and meets Iran’s conditions, while insisting a seven-point plan could be implemented within two days if those conditions were met. President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has granted the government certain powers to pursue talks, and Tehran says contacts with Washington are continuing through mediators, including Qatar and Pakistan, after three days of talks in Doha ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough.
Iranian leaders have also warned of the consequences of a renewed offensive. Khamenei and other senior officials have said any reignited US offensive would invite retaliation within and beyond the Middle East. That warning now sits alongside the reported strike, the continuing naval blockade dispute, and a string of shipping incidents in the Gulf in recent days, including a vessel struck off Oman’s Lima coast and a tanker hit near Ras Al Khafji in Saudi Arabia, which have kept insurers, shippers and Gulf governments on edge.
Markets reacted quickly to the report. Brent crude futures rose 48 cents, or 0.5%, to $105.25 a barrel by 0104 GMT on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 47 cents, or 0.5%, to $96.93 a barrel. That reversed part of Monday’s sharp fall, when Brent settled $8.66, or 7.63%, lower at $104.77 a barrel on hopes of diplomatic progress. KCM Trade chief market analyst Tim Waterer was quoted as saying the report had reintroduced a risk premium into oil prices after markets had begun anticipating a diplomatic resolution.
What happens next is far from settled, and several very different paths remain possible. Iran could respond militarily or through its regional allies, it could treat the reported strike as a reason to harden its negotiating demands, or it could keep the diplomatic channel open while warning publicly of retaliation. Washington could follow the reported groundwork with a short operation after the midterms, as the Journal says Gulf states have been warned to expect, or it could use the reported strikes as leverage for a deal. Until either Central Command or Tehran confirms the strike publicly, the full picture — what was hit, what damage was done, and whether anyone was hurt — remains unverified, and the story may change as official statements emerge.
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