Did the U.S. Strike Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz? Five Explosions Heard

[Financial News] Several explosions were heard on the 2nd (local time) on Iran’s Qeshm Island, at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, amid claims that the U.S. military had attacked the area.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that day, citing a U.S. government official, that the U.S. military had carried out an airstrike on Qeshm Island. Earlier, Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that five explosions had been heard in the area. Some residents said they saw two aircraft flying over the island as the explosions occurred. Neither the U.S. nor Iranian government has yet issued an official statement confirming an airstrike.
Qeshm Island is a military outpost where a naval base and radars belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are stationed. It also hosts large facilities for storing and shipping Iranian crude oil and natural gas.
The same day, Iran’s IRGC said it had shot down three U.S. unmanned aircraft (drones) near the Strait of Hormuz. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC claimed it had destroyed one U.S. MQ-9 drone east of the Strait that day and shot down two MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm Island.
The IRGC said it had recovered the two downed MQM-170 drones, bringing the total number of U.S. drones of that model acquired by Iran to four. It also claimed that the MQ-9 drone destroyed this time was the 55th of that model to be shot down by Iranian forces.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which has been attacking Iran since February, has refrained from airstrikes on mainland Iran since bombing Iranian military facilities in the Strait of Hormuz area on September 1. Instead, CENTCOM is attacking Iranian oil tankers and vessels around the Strait. U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media on the 8th of last month that he was having productive discussions with Iran, adding, “I will not attack Iran before the U.S. midterm elections on November 3.”
However, Trump struck an ambiguous tone after a campaign rally in Iowa on the 1st, saying, “At some point, we may have to hammer Iran.” In a report on the 29th of last month, WSJ said CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper had briefed Trump on scenarios for resuming attacks on Iran.
On the 2nd, Trump told U.S. political news outlet Axios in a phone interview, regarding a resumption of hostilities with Iran, “There is no need to rush.” After delivering his final midterm election speech in Washington, D.C., that day, he answered “No” when asked whether he would attack Iran again after the midterms. Trump told Axios, “We will do something one way or another, but there is no need to rush.”
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter