Several explosions were heard on Iran's Qeshm Island late on Monday, Iran's state-owned IRNA news agency reported. Witnesses told IRNA they saw two planes over the island, which lies off Iran's southern coast in the Strait of Hormuz. US media reported that the US military had carried out what officials called "defensive strikes". Al Jazeera said it was the first attack on the island since June.
A US official told Semafor and the Associated Press that the strike targeted "Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets". The Wall Street Journal, quoting an unnamed official, reported that the strikes appeared limited. They did not mark the restart of a major operation. The paper also reported that Monday's strike was one of "a series" carried out in secret. Earlier, IRNA reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had shot down a US MQ-9 drone east of the strait.
The strike came hours after Vice President JD Vance spoke positively about the talks. He said he and President Donald Trump "both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement". Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran wanted a settlement as soon as possible. However, he told Axios that he was "in no rush" to decide whether to resume strikes. Oil prices fell by more than 7 percent on Monday on hopes of a deal, Al Jazeera reported.
Signals from Tehran were mixed. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told IRNA that talks through mediators were "very intensive". He said everything depended on Washington. Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran's September peace plan could be shortened and carried out in two days. That would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had given the government "certain authorities" over talks with the US, local media reported. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on Tuesday that Iran's response to any US "miscalculation" would be unpredictable.
Qatar is leading the mediation. An official briefed on the talks told Reuters that Iran's delegation left Doha on Sunday, but a draft proposal was still circulating. Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Monday night to discuss a draft US-Iran deal, according to Reuters. The draft has been under negotiation for the past eight days.
The war began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched strikes across Iran, Al Jazeera reported. The fighting closed the Strait of Hormuz and pushed up oil and gas prices. A June memorandum of understanding brought a brief ceasefire before it broke down. Tuesday's US midterm elections are seen as a turning point for Trump's next move. He has suggested several times that he could attack Iran after the vote.