Trump Bombs Qeshm Island
Since Sunday into Monday, Iran headlines were driven by a return to ‘peace talks imminent’ claims, pushing down oil prices; however, late in the day we learn via official channels speaking to The Wall Street Journal that President Trump just bombed Qeshm Island earlier the same day.
This bold and risky act came right on the eve of the midterm elections, at a moment the war remains deeply unpopular with voters. But interestingly, Trump didn’t openly announce the attack, like with some prior escalations and bombings.
“The U.S. attacked Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, U.S. officials said, in the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks as President Trump touted the possibility of a diplomatic deal,” WSJ writes. The paper further underscores that he spent the whole day signaling there won’t be a renewed bombing campaign against Iran any time soon:
The assault follows comments by Trump playing down the possibility of a return to war with Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“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.”
But the U.S. has been engaged in smaller-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks, officials said, with explosions reported around Qeshm island on Monday on social media. Some of the officials described the assaults as defensive in nature to prevent Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. .
So there’s clearly a political reason for the administration not officially reporting such strikes. It would certainly negate any attempt to portray de-escalation in the conflict.
“The U.S. has been purposefully keeping the campaign quiet so as not to signal any intention of resuming major combat operations,” one official speaking to the Journal says.
Trump Says ‘No Rush’ on Renewing Iran War
On midterm election eve, President Trump is seeking to appear confident and is trying to reassure voters. He told Axios in a phone interview published Monday afternoon that he’s “in no rush” to decide whether to resume attacks on Iran.
There’s lately been an avalanche of speculation saying that he’s likely to order a new bombing campaign soon after the midterm vote on Tuesday. There are also reports saying that Israel’s Netanyhu is strongly lobbying for renewing the war. Of course, Trump knows the war is deeply unpopular with the average voter (on both sides of the aisle) right now, and so the obvious attempts at ‘calming’ the populace…
