Qeshm Island Strike Wasn't Announced
by: Marcus Webb

Qeshm Island Strike Wasn’t Announced. It Wasn’t the First.

The U.S. strike on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday night wasn’t announced, and according to The Wall Street Journal it wasn’t the first. Citing U.S. officials, the Journal reported that Qeshm was the latest in a series of limited strikes Washington has carried out against Iran in recent weeks without public acknowledgment. One official told the paper the campaign was kept quiet so it wouldn’t signal plans to resume major combat. The disclosure came on the eve of the midterms. By Wednesday, Democrats had won both chambers of Congress, and their plans include new war powers votes.

On the same Monday, President Trump told reporters, “We had a war with Iran. We won,” according to The National and Iran International. He added that it might not even count as a war, since there had been no fighting “for months.” Asked whether he was considering strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s election, he said “no,” Reuters reported.

A launcher, a drone and a downed-aircraft claim

Officials gave several outlets similar but not identical versions. Multiple U.S. officials told CBS News the strikes were limited and defensive, and a senior military official said they targeted Qeshm after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on a U.S. aircraft. Three officials told CNN the same. A senior U.S. official told Axios that a U.S. fighter jet destroyed a surface-to-air missile launcher on the island in self-defense after the IRGC fired from it, The National reported.

The National also reported, citing U.S. officials, that the Iranian missile brought down an American drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, and Iranian media published images said to show a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper being destroyed. The IRGC claimed late Monday that it had shot down two U.S. reconnaissance drones over Qeshm. CNN said it was unclear whether that claim was connected to the strikes. No U.S. official has confirmed a drone loss on the record.

Iran’s Fars News Agency reported several explosions on Qeshm in the early hours of Tuesday, local time, heard on nearby Hengam Island and in the port city of Bandar Abbas, CNN reported.

In June, CENTCOM put out a statement

The silence is new. When U.S. forces hit Qeshm on June 2, during the ceasefire, U.S. Central Command announced it. CENTCOM said it carried out “self-defense strikes” on a ground control station on the island after Iran fired missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain and launched drones at civilian ships, according to CBS News and the Washington Examiner. The command also posted on X to deny an IRGC claim that it had hit the Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.

This time, the public account came from the Journal and from officials speaking without their names. A person familiar with the matter told CNN the administration deliberately kept the attack under wraps so as not to overstate a defensive move. The Journal did not say how many strikes the campaign has included, where they hit, or when it began, and the follow-up reports we read don’t say either.

Qeshm sits at the mouth of the strait, about 14 miles from Bandar Abbas, CNN reported. The Journal described it as home to a large underground missile site, a naval base and a major desalination plant, according to Iran International. Some U.S. officials told the Journal the strikes were meant to deny Iran the freedom to attack commercial shipping in the strait.

Congress and the 48-hour clock

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to report to Congress in writing within 48 hours when U.S. forces are introduced into hostilities without a declaration of war. Congress has never authorized the Iran war, and the administration hasn’t asked it to, NPR reported. None of the reporting we reviewed says whether the administration notified congressional leaders or committees of the Qeshm strike or the earlier ones, and the U.S. had not publicly announced any of the strikes as of Tuesday, Iran International reported.

That question now lands with a Democratic majority. A binding war powers resolution fell one vote short in the Senate in September, 49 to 50, and is likely to pass the new Senate, Al-Monitor reported, though Trump can veto it. NPR reported that Democrats plan to question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the war, and Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has said he will force a lame-duck vote on impeaching Hegseth, accusing him of violating the War Powers Resolution, Fox News reported.

Tehran’s answer: “ongoing war”

Iran played the strike down without letting it go. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran reserves the right to defend itself, CNN and CBS News reported, and called the incident part of an “ongoing war,” according to CNN. The IRGC said Iran’s armed forces and leadership would decide “the time and conditions for ending the enemy’s attacks,” according to CBS. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned early Tuesday that Iran’s response to any “enemy miscalculation” would be unpredictable, CNN reported.

Talks continue alongside the strikes. Qatari mediators shuttled between Doha and Tehran last week, and a diplomat told CNN on Monday that mediators expected U.S. and Iranian replies to the latest proposal within two days. Iran says it can reopen the strait within two days if Washington meets seven demands, including lifting the naval blockade. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X that the U.S. response to Iran’s demands fell short, CBS and CNN reported. On Wednesday, after the election results, Ghalibaf posted that Americans had said “NO TO WAR,” CNBC reported.

Whether the strikes stay small is an open question in Washington too. The Journal reported that Trump has been leaning toward a large attack on Iran after the election but hasn’t decided, according to Iran International. Brent crude rose about 0.5% to $105.25 a barrel in early Asian trading Tuesday on news of the Qeshm strike, The National reported.

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