The United States attacked Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, even as President Donald Trump indicated progress in diplomatic negotiations with Tehran to end the eight-month-old conflict.
Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper described the strike on Qeshm, the largest island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as the latest in a series of limited, covert attacks launched by Washington in recent weeks, reports AFP.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that five explosions were heard in quick succession on the island. Several local residents also reported seeing two aircraft flying over the area.
When asked about the reported military action, the Pentagon referred inquiries to US Central Command, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP late Monday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US had been carrying out smaller-scale attacks on Iranian targets for several weeks. Some officials described the operations as defensive measures intended to prevent Iran from freely attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for global oil exports that has been largely blocked since the war broke out in late February.
According to the newspaper, the US administration has refrained from publicly announcing the strikes to avoid signalling any intention of resuming major combat operations.
Speaking on Monday, on the eve of the US midterm elections, President Trump said a diplomatic agreement with Tehran “could happen”.
Optimism over a possible resolution to the conflict sent global oil prices, which had surged sharply following Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, plunging by more than 7 per cent on Monday.
