The US launched limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to US officials who spoke to CBS. The strikes came in response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps firing on a US aircraft, the officials said. Iranian state news agency Irna reported several explosions on the island.
The IRGC said it had shot down two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of the island and a US MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes occurred ahead of the US midterm elections. Former President Donald Trump, facing falling polling numbers and pressure from within his Republican Party to end the war that began in February, told reporters on Monday he was in "no rush" to escalate strikes. "One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush. We crippled them financially," he told Axios. He told Fox News the US "might need to go after Pickaxe Mountain", an underground site linked to Iran's nuclear programme, which could be done in "one hour".
Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday that "the ball is now in America's court to prevent war". Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said "very intensive" talks to end the war were under way via Qatari and Pakistani mediators. Iran said it was prepared for both diplomatic and military scenarios.
The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in June, but it collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.