New US Strikes Hit Iran on Eve of Midterm Elections as Trump Plays Down War Risk
Key Takeaways
- â˘The United States carried out new strikes on Iran on Monday night, continuing a smaller-scale campaign that officials say has been underway for several weeks.
- â˘Explosions were reported around Qeshm island on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important transit routes for globally traded oil and liquefied natural gas.
- â˘U.S. officials described the operations as defensive in nature, intended to prevent Iran from attacking commercial ships in the waterway.
- â˘Unlike earlier phases of the conflict, the strikes were conducted without public announcement, leaving their precise scale and targets without official confirmation.
- â˘The action followed President Trump's comments downplaying the prospect of renewed war and came just before Tuesday's midterm elections, with an Econbrowser author expressing skepticism that the post-election period would avoid broader conflict.
The United States carried out fresh strikes on Iran on Monday night, according to The Wall Street Journal, continuing a lower-profile military campaign that U.S. officials say has been underway for several weeks. The assault followed public comments by Trump playing down the possibility of a return to war with Iran after Tuesday's midterm elections, and, unlike operations earlier in the conflict, came without any public announcement from Washington.
"We had a war with Iran. We won," Trump told reporters Monday. "I don't know if you even call it a war because we haven't been doing any fighting for months."
Despite that characterization, officials said American forces have been engaged in smaller-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks. Explosions were reported around Qeshm island, which lies along the Strait of Hormuz, in posts on social media on Monday. The waterway is one of the world's most important energy chokepoints, carrying a substantial share of globally traded oil and liquefied natural gas, which makes the safety of commercial shipping there a concern for governments and markets far beyond the region. Some of the officials described the assaults as defensive in nature, saying they were intended to prevent Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the waterway.
The U.S. has not publicly announced the attacks, in contrast to earlier phases of the war. The campaign has been purposefully kept quiet so as not to signal any intention of resuming major combat operations, one official said. That absence of public acknowledgment has left the precise scale and targets of the operations without official confirmation.
The strikes landed on the eve of Tuesday's midterm vote, the nationwide election that will determine the composition of Congress. The Econbrowser author expressed skepticism that the post-election period would pass without broader conflict: "Assertions that no major escalation will take place post-election are, in my mind, not credible."
This article is based on Econbrowser's post "On the Eve of Escalation" and The Wall Street Journal's report.
