US strikes Iran's Qeshm Island on the eve of the midterms despite Trump's vow of NO strikes before the vote
Donald Trump, pictured with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, whose notably different tones on Iran — Vance voicing optimism over a diplomatic deal — emerged as polls opened on the midterms.Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian state media reported overnight explosions confirming the US strikes, just hours before midterm polls opened.
The strikes on Qeshm Island — home to an underground missile base, a naval installation and a large desalination facility — were triggered after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on a US aircraft, with American forces also intercepting an IRGC missile targeting commercial shipping. Officials stressed the action was limited and defensive, not a return to full-scale hostilities. Trump had told reporters just days earlier that the US would not attack Iran before Tuesday's vote.
The war, now in its ninth month, has cost US taxpayers at least $47.1 billion and sent gas prices surging — a mounting liability for Republicans on election eve.
Trump told Fox News the US may still need to strike Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected nuclear site, adding it was 'not a big deal' and could be done in 'one hour.'
Iranian negotiators spent a third consecutive day in Doha on Sunday in talks brokered by Qatari mediators, with Tehran's foreign minister saying 'very intensive' negotiations are under way.
