US strikes Iran's Qeshm Island on midterms eve, hours after Trump said there had been no fighting for months
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 IRGC launched surface-to-air missiles at a US aircraft and targeted commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting retaliatory strikes on Qeshm Island — which hosts an underground missile base, a naval installation, and one of the region's principal desalination facilities. Witnesses reported two aircraft overhead as five explosions rang out in rapid sequence.
Trump had publicly pledged on 8 October that the US would not attack Iran before the midterms, and told reporters Monday 'we haven't been doing any fighting for months.'
The White House deliberately kept the recent wave of strikes secret to avoid signalling a return to major combat operations, even as peace talks continued via Qatari mediators in Doha.
The Iran war has already cost the US military at least $47.1 billion and cratered Republican poll numbers, with rising costs from the Hormuz closure hitting American voters ahead of Tuesday's vote.
