US President Donald Trump has confirmed that American forces carried out strikes on Iran, as Iranian leaders cautioned that a return to open conflict would serve no one.
Speaking amid renewed questions about whether Washington was poised to restart a broader bombing campaign, Mr Trump sought to tamp down the talk.
“We seem to be getting everything we want,” Mr Trump told the Financial Times yesterday.
“I’m ready, we’re ready. We’re locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it,” he added.
From Tehran, Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Islamic Republic was “ready for battle with its finger on the trigger”. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran retained the right to “legitimate self-defence” after the strikes.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said his administration was still trying to defuse the crisis “through dialogue”, while warning that “no one will benefit from this war” if it flared again.
Satellite view of Qeshm Island in Iran which is within the Strait of Hormuz region
Mr Pezeshkian underscored that Iran’s supreme leader had recently authorised the government with new negotiating powers on matters previously considered “off-limits”.
Mr Trump disclosed the strikes in an interview with Fox News, after US media reported attacks on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
“They built an anti-aircraft facility. As soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” Mr Trump said on the ‘Fox & Friends’ show, describing it as a “minor attack”.
‘Iran wants a settlement’
The war, triggered in February when the United States and Israel pummelled Iran in a massive wave of strikes, has been deadlocked for months.
An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel did not take part in the latest reported strikes.
The reported Qeshm strike came only hours after Mr Trump suggested an agreement with Iran “could happen”, a message delivered shortly before polls opened in the US midterms, where voter frustration over the war and the inflation it has fuelled has loomed large.
“Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Ghalibaf said Iran had already spelled out its position and that “the ball is now in America’s court to prevent war”.
Qatar, which has served as a mediator in lengthy indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, said it still believed an interim arrangement remained within reach.
US President Donald Trump signalled that a deal with Iran ‘could happen’
Both sides “are currently reviewing the ideas and proposals we have presented,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters.
“We remain hopeful that there is still a chance for a deal to take place,” he said, adding that Qatar was working “towards an interim deal”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Monday that indirect negotiations were under way.
Reopen the strait
US Vice President JD Vance said he and Mr Trump both believed an agreement could be secured.
“We’ve certainly made some progress. We’ll see if we can make some more,” Mr Vance told reporters on Monday.
A senior Iranian official said Iran was prepared to reopen Hormuz — a vital corridor for global energy shipments — within two days, but only if the US accepted Tehran’s long-standing list of demands.
In September, Iran put forward a seven-day plan to reopen the strait, calling for steps including ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
“The possibility of implementing this plan in two days is another indication of Iran’s good-faith approach,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters at a briefing.
As the vote approached yesterday, Mr Trump continued to issue warnings toward Iran, saying on Sunday that the United States may have to give Iran “the hammer” at an unspecified time.
That threat followed remarks in which Mr Trump said he still needed to “take care” of one or two targets, including so-called ‘Pickaxe Mountain’ in central Iran, a suspected nuclear site that Iran denies is such a facility.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned of sweeping retaliation if the US resumes the war.
Iran says tankers destroyed after hitting mines in Hormuz
Meanwhile, Iran said this morning that four oil tankers caught fire after striking mines while trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
“Four non-compliant oil tankers attempting to pass through the prohibited passage south of the Strait of Hormuz were destroyed after striking naval mines and are still burning,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement quoted by state TV.
“Two other non-compliant ships or vessels have also been halted,” the statement added.
The Guards also said they had shot down a drone over the strait.
