US Officials Tell WSJ Washington Has Carried Out Unannounced Limited Strikes on Iran, Including Qeshm Island on Monday

Since CENTCOM publicly announced its June 2 strike on a drone control station on Qeshm Island, the Pentagon has used that kind of announcement as its standard. According to US officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, that has changed. The paper reported today, Nov. 2, that US forces hit Qeshm again as part of a series of limited strikes carried out quietly in recent weeks.

The Pentagon has not announced any of them.

What the officials say

Some of the officials described the strikes as defensive. The stated aim is to deny Iran the freedom to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

One US official told the Journal the campaign was kept quiet on purpose. The goal was to avoid signaling that Washington intends to resume major combat operations against Iran.

Another US official said the administration is continuing to address threats against American military personnel in the region. The Defense Department referred questions about the reported strikes to US Central Command. CENTCOM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

What Iran is saying

Iran's state news agency IRNA reported five explosions on Qeshm Island, with more blasts in the nearby port city of Bandar Lengeh. IRNA also said residents on Qeshm saw two aircraft overhead. Iranian authorities have not said what caused the explosions.

Israel's N12 broadcaster reported that the target was an air defense system on the island. That detail has not been confirmed by the US or Iran. Separate reports said Iranian air defenses were activated at Omidiyeh Airbase in the south of the country.

The blasts came hours after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force claimed it had shot down three US drones near the strait, including what it called the 55th MQ-9. Iran's Press TV said the IRGC also claimed to have intercepted two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm using electronic warfare. No US confirmation of those losses has been reported. Whether the drone claims and the explosions are connected is unclear.

Why Qeshm

Qeshm sits at the mouth of the strait. According to the Journal, it holds a large underground missile site, a naval base and a major desalination plant. US forces have hit it repeatedly since the war began.

On June 2, CENTCOM said forces intercepted three one-way attack drones launched toward civilian vessels, plus multiple Iranian drones and ballistic missiles. It then described a self-defense strike on the island's drone control facility.

The public message versus the reported record

Trump spoke to reporters today. "We had a war with Iran. We won," he said. "I don't know if you even call it a war because we haven't been doing any fighting for months."

Asked whether he was considering strikes after Tuesday's midterm elections, Trump answered "no." Administration officials told the Journal he is still weighing his options.

The administration's position is that the strikes are small, defensive and meant to keep shipping lanes open, not to restart a war. The public line is that major fighting ended months ago. Both statements can be true at once, but the president's description and the officials' account of recent weeks do not match.

Trump also pointed to the oil market. "Oil Prices are DROPPING LIKE A ROCK, down almost $10 a Barrel, A RECORD, because people feel that there will not be a War with Iran. Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!" he wrote on Truth Social. The figure is his own claim.

Diplomacy

Vice President JD Vance spoke at Joint Base Andrews. "We've had a number of good conversations with the Iranians," he said, adding that he had spoken with Trump about it an hour earlier.

"The President and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement," Vance said. "You never know, of course. The Iranians are always a little unpredictable, and as the President always says, he retains kinetic options, he retains non-kinetic options."

Vance said any deal would have to keep Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear capabilities. He also said the US had made "some progress."

What to watch

The Qeshm strike comes a day before Tuesday's midterm elections. The administration has said nothing on the record about the timing, and none of the officials cited gave a reason beyond keeping the strikes low-profile.

Three things are unresolved. CENTCOM has not said whether it carried out the Qeshm strike or what it hit. Iran has not said whether it will retaliate. And the administration has not said how many strikes it has conducted or where.

The Journal's account suggests more could follow without warning.