U.S. hits Iran’s Qeshm Island, calls strikes “defensive”

The U.S. military carried out limited, defensive strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military struck radar detectors and missile launchers on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, a day before the U.S. midterm elections, The Hill reports, citing a U.S. official who spoke to NewsNation.

The strikes, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, continue earlier attacks and were defensive, the official said. “This was a defensive measure for Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against U.S. assets,” the official said. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz, hosts a naval base and an underground missile site.

President Trump has said the Iran conflict would end soon after the midterms. “We had a war with Iran. We won,” he told reporters Monday.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said: “The ball is in the U.S. court, because our demands have been stated very clearly and transparently, and Iran’s demands are reasonable and logical.”

Qatar is leading mediation efforts.