US Launches Strikes On Iran’s Island Ahead Of Elections

The United States has launched strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, US officials have confirmed to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

The officials described the strikes as limited and said they were carried out in response to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) firing on a US aircraft.

Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, reported several explosions on Qeshm Island on Monday.

Although the IRGC did not comment on the reported US strikes, it claimed that its forces had shot down two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of the island, as well as a US MQ-9 drone over an area east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The BBC said it had contacted US Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment on the strikes, which came ahead of the US midterm elections.

US President Donald Trump has been facing falling approval ratings and pressure from within his Republican Party to end the war, which began in February when the US and Israel attacked Iran.

Earlier on Monday, Trump told reporters that he was in “no rush” to escalate military operations against Iran.

“One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush. We crippled them financially,” he told news outlet Axios.

“They have no money, no gasoline and their people are getting very tired of it,” he added.

Trump also said the US “might need to go after Pickaxe [Mountain]”, an underground site linked to Iran’s nuclear programme, in an interview with Fox News ahead of the midterm elections.

He described such an operation as “not a big deal”, saying it could be completed in “one hour”.

There has been growing speculation in recent days that Washington could resume major strikes against Iran after the midterm elections.

However, when asked by a reporter on Monday whether that was the case, Trump responded, “no”.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press cited two regional officials as saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged Trump, during a phone conversation over the weekend, to launch another wave of strikes against Iran after the midterm elections.

On Tuesday, Iran’s chief negotiator with the US and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the responsibility for preventing another escalation now rested with Washington.

“The ball is now in America’s court to prevent war,” he said.

“Just as the Islamic Republic of Iran stands ready for battle with its finger on the trigger, it has also given the American side a powerful and rational response,” he added in a televised speech.

It was not immediately clear what Ghalibaf was referring to.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told IRNA on Monday that “very intensive” negotiations aimed at ending the war were ongoing with the US through Qatari and Pakistani mediators.

He said Iran was prepared for both diplomatic and military scenarios “more than ever before”, adding that Washington had to choose between a “wise path” of negotiations and the “mistake of military aggression”.

Last week, Iranian negotiators reportedly discussed with mediators a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, subject to the US meeting seven conditions.

The conditions include lifting the naval blockade of Iranian ports and releasing frozen Iranian assets.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments normally pass, was effectively closed following the outbreak of the war due to Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and the US naval blockade.

The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement in June to end the war and reopen the strategic waterway, but the arrangement collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and Washington reinstated its blockade.

Iran maintained that it would not relinquish some measure of control over the waterway and subsequently began targeting vessels using a southern route through Omani waters, which avoids its preferred passage through Iranian waters.

Meanwhile, the US military has been providing protection for oil tankers transporting crude through the Strait of Hormuz to sustain exports from Gulf Arab states.