{"id":18045,"date":"2026-11-03T11:09:32","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T03:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=18045"},"modified":"2026-11-03T11:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T03:09:43","slug":"u-s-has-conducted-defensive-strikes-on-some-iranian-targets-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-u-s-official-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=18045","title":{"rendered":"U.S. has conducted defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. official says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The United States has conducted defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said Monday, on the eve of crucial midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian state television reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island. The official, who wasn\u2019t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said \u201cIranians using surface to air missiles against U.S. assets\u201d had been targeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strikes appeared to be limited as opposed to a return to full hostilities but followed President Donald Trump previously saying the U.S. wouldn\u2019t launch strikes on Iran before Tuesday\u2019s midterms. The strikes were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unpopular Iran war and the resulting impact on U.S. gasoline prices and other parts of the economy have been a vulnerability for Republicans as they try to keep control of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration was last known to have carried out some attacks in early September, but thousands of U.S. troops remain in the waters off Iran to maintain a naval blockade aimed at preventing tankers carrying Iranian oil from getting to the global market. Plus, a third aircraft carrier and thousands of additional troops are on their way to the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier Monday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance offered measured optimism that a deal can still be struck to prevent Trump from following through on his threat to potentially order new strikes on Iran after the midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vance sent a letter to Iran\u2019s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, last week, but the White House has offered scant details about the contents of that correspondence. Trump told reporters that letter was focused on assisting Iran with \u201cmedical supplies and various things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Vance on Monday suggested there\u2019s reason to believe that the U.S. and Iran could still come to an agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a number of good conversations with the Iranians,\u201d Vance told reporters on Monday when asked about the letter. \u201cI actually just spoke with the president of the United States about an hour ago about this. Look, the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. We\u2019re going to keep on working at it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vance\u2019s comments came as the region remains on edge about the prospects of the U.S. resuming full-scale operations against Iran. The backchannel efforts are playing out as Israel and some Middle East allies lobby Trump on the way ahead in the 8-month-old war that\u2019s rattled global markets and wreaked havoc on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu pushed Trump for strikes in a weekend call<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for another wave of strikes on Iran after Tuesday\u2019s elections in the United States, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A return to full-scale war with Iran could help Netanyahu to form an emergency government after he and his far-right allies lost their parliamentary majority in last week\u2019s elections. Trump has alternated between threatening major strikes and pushing for a deal with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two officials said diplomatic efforts have made progress, with Qatari mediators holding two rounds of talks last week with Iranian officials. The two officials said the mediators are trying to advance a framework for Iran to cease its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in return for the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran\u2019s ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said more talks are planned for this week. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified briefings they had received from American, and in one case Israeli, officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One official said Netanyahu was working with senior officials in the U.S. administration to persuade Trump to launch a quick but extensive air campaign and that the president does not appear to have made a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu pressed for strikes during a call over the weekend with Trump, who would not commit to taking military action, according to a person who was briefed on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other U.S. allies in the Middle East are warning against more strikes, saying that would destabilize the region and could lead Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen to step up their attacks on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping, a third regional official said. Iran-backed militias in Iraq could also get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli government did not immediately comment. The White House did not directly respond to questions about Netanyahu and Trump\u2019s discussion of potential new strikes during the weekend call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said he spoke by phone on Monday with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about \u201cthe latest regional and international developments\u201d and the Houthis\u2019 continued attacks on Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump downplays scale of Iran conflict on Election Day eve<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu had pushed for renewed strikes even before the Israeli election as he sought to highlight his security credentials to a public deeply scarred by Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the war has also loomed large for American voters ahead of Tuesday\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oil prices dropped sharply on Monday as renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war between the U.S. and Iran appeared to show signs of headway. Rising prices at the pump, a byproduct of the war, have been a weight on Trump\u2019s Republican Party as it tries to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump noted the drop in a speech in Washington on Monday, which was billed as his closing argument to Americans, and sought to minimize the scale of the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $47 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if you even call it a war, because we haven\u2019t been doing any fighting for months,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu has not commented on Iran since the Israeli election, and there was no word from his office on the latest call with Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran says it is prepared for war while pursuing diplomacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran wants guarantees that the U.S. will implement its side of any agreement. The U.S. and Israel have twice attacked Iran while it was engaged in negotiations over its disputed nuclear program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian officials say publicly they are prepared for war or diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, met with Iran\u2019s military chiefs and said the response to \u201cany kind and level of threat\u201d from the U.S. or Israel should be immediate and without \u201cgeographic limits,\u201d and urged an expansion of the list of potential targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent analysis by The Associated Press found that Iranian strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases since the start of the war have caused billions of dollars in equipment damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khamenei has not been seen publicly since the opening strikes by Israel and the U.S. on Feb. 28, which killed his father, the previous supreme leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, told state television that \u201cthe tone has completely changed\u201d from the U.S. and called it a \u201cvery good sign.\u201d He also gave no details about the letter he received from Vance, which Iran acknowledged last week, and said he had not responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Vance told reporters on Monday that the Republican administration\u2019s foremost concern is Iran agreeing to take substantive action on its nuclear program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do think that there is a pathway there, but it really does require a firm commitment and a verifiable commitment that they don\u2019t rebuild that nuclear program,\u201d Vance added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arab allies are caught in the middle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October saw the most attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz since March, as Iran has tried to ramp up economic pressure on the U.S. to get it to lift its blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mood was grim at the Manama Dialogue, an annual security summit in Bahrain organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Arab Emirates presidential adviser Anwar Gargash told attendees the U.S. and Iranian stances are far apart, and \u201cif these positions are not bridged, then we have to worry about the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gulf nations have spent billions of dollars to boost their defense capabilities since the war began. Egypt\u2019s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told the gathering in Bahrain that the next escalation \u201cwill be more dangerous, more destructive, and it will lead to nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China will send a special envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States has conducted defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said Monday, on the eve of crucial midterm elections. Iranian state television reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island. 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