US carries out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island, described as defensive, as Iran claims US drones downed

US forces carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island on November 2. The Wall Street Journal first reported the operation, and CNN subsequently confirmed it with three US officials, reporting strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz; Iran's state news agency IRNA reported several explosions on the island on Monday evening, along with blasts in Bandar Lengeh. (Cover photo is a file photo of the Strait of Hormuz.)

Washington's account: a response to fire on a US aircraft

According to officials cited by CNN, the strikes were a response to Iran's Revolutionary Guard firing at a US aircraft; another official described the action as a defensive measure against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets. An Associated Press source gave the same account. Officials stressed that the strikes were limited and did not signal a return to major combat operations.

The latest in a series of quiet, limited strikes

The Wall Street Journal reported that this was the latest in a series of limited operations Washington has carried out in recent weeks, kept small in scale and deliberately quiet so as not to signal an intent to resume the wider military campaign. Washington and Tehran have been at war since February. Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Monday that the two sides had made some progress toward an off-ramp to the war; President Donald Trump had earlier said the US would not attack Iran before the midterms, without saying whether strikes would resume afterward.

Iran's claims and what remains unconfirmed

Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it shot down two US drones south of Qeshm and destroyed an MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz; its navy separately claimed it captured an intact US reconnaissance decoy drone. CNN noted it was unclear whether those claims were related to these strikes, and they have not been independently confirmed. As of Tuesday morning's reporting, US Central Command had issued no public statement about the operation, and there was no confirmed list of targets struck or confirmed damage or casualty figures; the strikes came on the eve of the November 3 US midterm elections.