US strikes Iranian targets in Strait of Hormuz hours before polls open

American forces struck Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz overnight into Tuesday, hours before U.S. midterm polls opened, after Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired on a U.S. aircraft over the waterway, according to U.S. officials cited by multiple outlets.

Residents on Iran's Qeshm Island reported hearing several explosions in rapid succession late Monday, and witnesses told the state-run IRNA news agency they saw two aircraft flying over the island. The semi-official Fars news agency separately reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Lengeh, coming from the direction of the sea. The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that the U.S. military carried out the strikes, describing them as defensive and intended to limit Iran's ability to target commercial shipping. One official said Washington had deliberately kept the operation quiet to avoid signaling a return to full-scale combat; the Associated Press separately quoted a U.S. official saying forces had struck Iranians "using surface-to-air missiles against U.S. assets."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard, for its part, said it had captured two U.S. reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm using electronic warfare and destroyed a third, an MQ-9, east of the strait. It also claimed three tankers caught fire after striking naval mines while transiting the waterway "without permission," a claim U.S. officials have previously disputed. No casualties were reported from Monday night's exchange.

The flare-up lands at a delicate moment in months of on-again, off-again diplomacy. Qatar has been shuttling proposals between Washington and Tehran aimed at formally ending hostilities and reopening Hormuz to normal shipping, and Iranian officials said this week that a plan to reopen the strait could take effect within two days if the U.S. lifted its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran's demands had been "clearly communicated" and that "the ball is in the U.S. court." Vice President JD Vance said separately that Washington had "had a number of good conversations with the Iranians," pointing to a letter he sent last week to Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei. President Trump, writing on Truth Social, said Iran "wants a settlement, as soon as possible," and told reporters he would not consider ordering new strikes after the midterms.

Not everyone in the region wants the fighting to stop there. The AP, citing officials briefed on the matter, reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pressing Washington for another round of strikes on Iran once Tuesday's elections are over, a position that could complicate the Qatari-brokered diplomacy.

Markets registered the overnight escalation immediately. Oil prices climbed in early trading Tuesday on renewed concern about supply risk through the strait, which carries roughly a fifth of global oil shipments; U.S. crude rose above $98 a barrel and Brent crude topped $106.

Neither Washington nor Tehran had issued a formal statement on the overnight strikes as of Tuesday morning. The incident is the latest in a monthslong standoff that has periodically closed or restricted traffic through Hormuz since fighting between the U.S., Israel and Iran erupted earlier this year, disrupting a chokepoint that remains central to global energy markets even as diplomats continue to search for an exit.