US carries out 'defensive' raids on Qeshm while Vance points to good conversations with Iran
Washington targeted Iranian air defences in the Strait of Hormuz on the same day the vice president said negotiations are moving forward.
The United States carried out limited strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the Associated Press reports via The Korea Times. A US official speaking on condition of anonymity described them as defensive: they were aimed at Iranians firing surface-to-air missiles at US assets. According to i24news, citing The Wall Street Journal, the targets were on Qeshm Island. Iranian state television confirmed that several explosions were heard there. Nothing is known about casualties. These are the first known US strikes since early September.
At the same time, the tone on both sides is less combative. Vice President JD Vance said, according to AP, that there had been a number of good conversations with Iranian officials and that he and Trump are optimistic. Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei saw a clear change in the US tone. Al Jazeera reports that Tehran still insists that Washington first lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Qatari mediators are working, according to AP, on a framework under which Iran would halt its attacks in the strait in return for an end to that blockade; new talks are planned this week.
The threat nonetheless remains high. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei instructed his military chiefs to answer any US or Israeli threat immediately and without geographic limits, AP writes. Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the US could hit an Iranian nuclear site within an hour, but also that a deal is still possible, i24news reports. Thousands of US troops remain in the region, and a third aircraft carrier is on its way.