US forces carried out limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on November 2, according to US officials cited by news outlets. The operation was reported hours before the US midterm elections on November 3.
An official cited by the Associated Press said the targets were positions used by Iran to launch surface-to-air missiles against US assets. Other reports described the strikes as defensive. US officials told Sky News the operation followed an attempted attack on a US aircraft and targeted a launcher.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported several explosions on Qeshm late Monday. Witnesses cited by the agency said they saw two aircraft, but the explosion reports do not independently establish who carried out the strikes or what was hit. Al Jazeera also reported an Iranian Revolutionary Guard claim that two US drones had been captured and another downed. That claim has not been independently verified.
The reports do not specify how many weapons were used or provide a confirmed assessment of casualties or damage. The strike was reported the day before the elections, but no link between the timing of the operation and the vote has been established.
Clayton Ward 
Reid Bentley