US strikes Iranian targets in Strait of Hormuz hours before midterms

The United States fired on Iranian targets Monday, a US official said, squeezing a limited operation into the final hours before Tuesday's midterm elections. Unlike earlier in the war, Washington didn't announce it. Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm and Hengam islands in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, plus the nearby mainland around Bandar Abbas.

The anonymous US official said the strikes hit Iranians who were using surface-to-air missiles against American forces in the strait. That detail lands awkwardly for President Donald Trump, who had publicly promised no strikes on Iran before the vote. The war is unpopular at home, and its drag on gasoline prices and the wider economy has been a soft spot for Republicans fighting to hold Congress.

Tehran says it had a two-day plan ready: reopen the waterway — which carried about a fifth of the world's oil supply in peacetime — and restart nuclear talks with Washington. Speaking before the US official confirmed the strikes, Vice President JD Vance told reporters he and Trump 'both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement.' Iran's chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, countered on Tuesday that Iran had 'delivered a firm and rational response to the American side,' adding that 'the ball is now in America's court to prevent war.' It wasn't immediately clear what response he meant, and he warned Iran's armed forces were at their highest defensive readiness.

Behind the scenes, back channels are humming. Two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for another wave of strikes on Iran once the US elections wrap up — a return to full-scale war that could help him stitch together an emergency government after he and his far-right allies lost their parliamentary majority last week. Israel and some Middle East allies have been lobbying Trump on the way forward in the more than 8-month-old conflict.

Diplomacy hasn't stalled, according to those two officials. Mediators are trying to build a framework: Iran halts its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and the US lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. More talks are planned this week. Meanwhile the Pentagon's footprint stays heavy — thousands of troops remain offshore enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian oil tankers, and another aircraft carrier plus thousands more troops are en route. The last known US attacks came in early September.

On the streets of Tehran, hope and resignation are splitting the room. 'The American people need to make a fundamental decision and bring about real change,' said 69-year-old Reza Rezaei, who wants a shift toward 'peace and stability.' Raheleh Movahhed was having none of it: 'It doesn't really make much difference who comes into power.' Iran isn't waiting around either — it opened a third military training center in Tehran on Monday and announced plans to train 1 million paramilitary volunteers at 1,500 bases nationwide, with Basij deputy training head Ali Kowsari calling them 'sacrificial volunteers,' according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.