WASHINGTON: US officials have confirmed that the United States carried out a strike on Iran’s Qeshm Island, marking the latest action in a series of limited, undeclared military operations against Iran in recent weeks.
According to US officials, the attacks were defensive in nature and aimed at preventing Iran from targeting commercial and military vessels in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, Iranian media reported several powerful explosions on Qeshm Island, a strategically significant Iranian territory, and in areas surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Five successive explosions were reportedly heard on the island.
The intensity of the blasts reportedly shook doors and walls of nearby buildings, while local residents also claimed to have observed unidentified military aircraft flying over the area.
Following the explosions, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that its forces had disabled and seized two US MQM-170 surveillance drones using advanced electronic warfare systems south of Qeshm Island. The IRGC also claimed to have shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz.