The United States carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, November 2, a day before the midterm elections, describing the action only as “defensive strikes” on targets in the Strait of Hormuz. The careful wording omitted any direct reference to hitting Iranian territory.

Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm Island and in nearby Bandar Lengeh. Witnesses saw aircraft overhead. The Wall Street Journal first reported the operation, citing American officials. One official told CNN the strikes responded to Iran firing at a US aircraft. Another described them as a defensive measure against surface-to-air missiles targeting US assets. Officials said the goal was to stop Iranian forces from threatening commercial shipping through the strait. Radar equipment and missile launchers were among the targets hit.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed earlier the same day that it had captured two US reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm using electronic warfare and destroyed an MQ-9 drone east of the strait. The latest attack fits a pattern of limited, deliberately low-profile strikes in recent weeks, calibrated to avoid signaling a return to full-scale conflict. President Donald Trump had previously said the US would not strike Iran before the midterms.

Qeshm sits near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, roughly 14 miles from Bandar Abbas. It hosts an underground missile facility, a naval base and a major desalination plant. About 20 million barrels of oil passed through the strait daily before the war. The US has struck the island earlier in the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing for another wave of strikes after Tuesday’s US elections, according to regional officials. A renewed campaign could help him form an emergency government after he and his far-right allies lost their parliamentary majority.

Diplomatic efforts mediated by Qatar have made progress, with talks aimed at Iran halting attacks in the strait in exchange for the US lifting its blockade on Iranian ports. More discussions are expected this week. Other Middle East allies have warned that further strikes risk destabilizing the region and drawing in Houthi forces and Iraqi militias.

Trump sought to downplay the conflict on the eve of the election, noting falling oil prices and saying, “I don’t know if you even call it a war, because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months.” Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has ordered an immediate response to any threat “without geographic limits.” Iranian officials say they remain open to diplomacy while prepared for war.