United States forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday night, US officials said, in the latest limited action in an eight-month conflict that has repeatedly rattled global energy markets. The Qeshm Island strike was reported on Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, and oil prices rose in early trading as investors weighed the risk of further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz.
Some of the officials cited described the attacks as defensive in nature, aimed at preventing Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a large share of the world’s traded oil passes. Iranian state media reported several explosions on the island, which sits at the mouth of the strait, but neither side has published a full account of the damage.
The strike came one day after talks between Iranian and Qatari officials had lifted hopes of an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, sending both oil benchmarks down more than 7 percent on Monday. Brent crude settled at $104.77 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.46, according to Reuters.
Why the Qeshm Island strike moved oil prices
Oil traders reacted quickly to the reports. In early Asian trading on Tuesday, Brent crude rose about 0.5 percent to $105.25 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose about 0.5 percent to $96.93 a barrel, Reuters reported. Later in the day, Brent traded above $106 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate approached $98, with The National reporting Brent near $107 in afternoon trading in the Gulf. The moves were modest compared with Monday’s slide, but they reversed the direction of travel and underlined how sensitive prices remain to each new incident.
“Overnight US strikes renewed uncertainty, leaving crude near $105 per barrel this morning and the diplomatic opening vulnerable,” Daniel Richards, a senior economist at Emirates NBD, said in comments reported on Tuesday. Brent had ended October at its highest level in six months, on concerns that the conflict could escalate again after the US midterm elections.
The Strait of Hormuz is central to that sensitivity. Before the conflict began in late February, the strait carried about a fifth of global crude oil and natural gas supplies, according to Reuters. Even limited strikes near the waterway raise insurance costs for shipping and prompt traders to price in the risk of a wider disruption, even when no tankers are directly hit.
What officials have said about the strike
According to the reporting, a US official said on Monday that the US had struck Qeshm Island, and some officials described the assaults as defensive. The Wall Street Journal reported that smaller-scale strikes have been carried out in recent weeks and kept secret, in part to avoid signalling any US intent to resume a major military campaign against Iran.
On Tuesday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that both countries were far from reaching a deal to end the war and that Tehran would not accept Washington’s “excessive demands.” Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Tehran had given Washington a “strong and rational response” and that “the ball is in the US’ court,” according to state media reports cited by Reuters.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the US had won the war with Iran, while also saying he did not know whether it could be called a war, since there had been no fighting for months. Asked whether he was considering a strike on Iran after the election, he replied no, according to separate reporting of his remarks. The timing of the Qeshm Island action, on the eve of the midterm elections, has nevertheless drawn attention in Washington and in Gulf capitals.
The diplomatic backdrop
The strike arrived amid a complicated diplomatic sequence. Iranian negotiators left Doha with a draft proposal circulating, according to briefing reports, while Gulf Arab countries were told in October to prepare for a possible short, intense military campaign against Iran after the vote, according to people briefed on those conversations cited in recent reporting. At the same time, US envoy Steve Witkoff has signalled continued diplomatic engagement, and talks through intermediaries have continued in parallel with the military actions.
Reports have also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed President Trump to strike Iran immediately after the election, while Mr Trump has so far wanted negotiations to play out. Those accounts, attributed to Israeli and American sources, have not been confirmed by either government in full, and they illustrate the competing pressures on US policy in the region.
- Brent crude settled at $104.77 a barrel on Monday, down more than 7 percent on the day.
- West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.46 a barrel on Monday.
- Both benchmarks rose on Tuesday after reports of the Qeshm Island strike.
- The Strait of Hormuz previously carried about a fifth of global crude and gas supplies.
What it means for voters and fuel prices
The war has become a leading cause of high gasoline prices weighing on US voters, Reuters noted, and the president is under pressure to end the conflict. Fuel costs feed directly into household budgets and into the cost of transporting goods, so oil price swings in the days around the election carry political as well as economic weight.
For now, analysts say the key question is whether the Qeshm Island strike is another limited action of the kind reported in recent weeks, or the start of a wider campaign. Markets have so far treated it as the former, with price gains contained rather than explosive.
Further official statements from Washington and Tehran are expected as the details of the strike become clearer. Until then, oil traders, Gulf shipping operators and US voters alike are left reading the same signals: a conflict that has not ended, a diplomatic channel that has not closed, and a waterway whose safety remains central to the world economy.