US targets Qeshm Island in Iran ahead of midterm elections
The US military has on Monday struck Qeshm Island overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. The strike comes on the eve of the US midterm elections, with President Donald Trump saying he was in no hurry to decide whether to resume a large-scale bombing campaign against iran.
US officials told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the strikes were limited and followed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps firing on a US aircraft. Another American official told Reuters that Iranian forces had used surface-to-air missiles against US assets.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that five blasts rang out across Qeshm in rapid succession. Its correspondent on the island said the force of the explosions suggested the strikes had hit the island itself.
Five blasts were heard across Qeshm Island a few minutes ago. An IRNA correspondent on the island reported that the explosions came in rapid succession, and their severity indicated the strikes likely landed inside the island.
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) November 2, 2026
Read more: Hormuz shipping traffic drops as US-Iran strikes escalate
Qeshm lies near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil shipments. There were no immediate details on casualties or damage.
Meanwhile, some residents said they spotted two aircraft in the skies above Qeshm. As of now, no official statement has been issued by local or provincial authorities.
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) November 2, 2026
Trump says bombing Iran is not time-sensitive
In a phone interview on November 2, Trump said he was still weighing whether to resume broader military operations. «One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush,» he said, according to Axios.
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For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told IRNA that intensive talks aimed at ending the war were under way through mediators, BBC News reported.
