US struck Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, reports say

US forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to accounts published by The National and France 24 that cited The Wall Street Journal and unnamed US officials. The operation had not been publicly confirmed by the US military in those reports.

The Journal described the attack as one of a series of limited US operations against Iranian targets over several weeks. According to the accounts of its reporting, Washington withheld announcements about those operations to avoid suggesting that a larger military campaign had resumed.

On the island, five blasts were heard close together, France 24 reported, citing Iran’s state news agency IRNA. Some residents also reported seeing two aircraft. The National separately referred to Iranian state media accounts of multiple explosions.

The Pentagon directed questions to US Central Command, which had not answered AFP’s request for comment by late Monday, according to France 24. The National also said the command had not immediately answered its inquiry.

Some officials cited by the Journal described the operations as defensive action intended to stop Iranian attacks against merchant vessels passing through Hormuz, France 24 reported.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that an agreement with Tehran was possible. He also said the United States had won the war and had not fought for months, The National reported, a description at odds with the reported weeks of US strikes.

Asked whether he was considering attacks on Iran after Tuesday’s US midterm elections, Trump said he was not, according to The National.

The reports date the conflict’s beginning to late February. Qeshm’s location places the reported strike on a waterway used for oil shipments, linking the military developments to a major route for energy trade.

Oil prices moved in opposite directions across the trading periods described in the reports. France 24 reported a fall exceeding seven percent on Monday on hopes of an end to the conflict. The National reported subsequent gains of 0.5 percent in early Asian trading, putting Brent at $105.25 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $96.93.