US forces reportedly launched a secret attack on Iran’s Qeshm Island Monday, the latest in a series of small-scale strikes aimed at securing the Strait of Hormuz.
The assault was one of several the US secretly carried out against Iran in recent weeks, which have been described by US officials as defensive in nature, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Monday’s target, Qeshm Island, has been used by the Iranian regime to store ballistic missiles. It is also the site of a naval base and a desalination plant.
The island, located at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, has been repeatedly targeted by US forces since the start of the war with Iran.
The wave of recent strikes has been kept under wraps so as not to signal an intention of resuming major combat operations, a US official told the Journal.
President Trump has signaled that the eight-month war will both escalate and end soon after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“The only reason we are not finished with Iran is because I want to be nice,” Trump told a crowd at a campaign rally in Iowa Sunday night.
“I want to try and save all those lives if I can. But at some point, we’re going to have to give them the hammer,” he added. “It’s going to be over very soon. Very soon.”
Earlier Monday, Trump gave a one-word answer when asked whether he would resume attacks on Iran after the midterms.
“No,” the president told reporters after giving a speech at the Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
“We had a war with Iran. We won,” Trump said in his remarks. “I don’t know if you even call it a war because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months, you know. We control the Strait of Hormuz.”
The attack on Qeshm Island comes as US and Iranian negotiators are pushing for a peace deal.
“Consultations through mediators are very intensive,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after his team departed Qatar on Sunday.
“We have presented our conditions and proposals and everything depends on the political rationality of Washington,” he added.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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