Trump says US hit Iranian air defences after reports of Qeshm strike

Speaking to reporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday evening, Trump was asked whether the US was involved in reported strikes near Qeshm Island. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, before adding: “We do minor strikes.”

He said Iran had built an anti-aircraft device and that US forces “knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five”. He did not say when or where that happened. The Associated Press described his remarks as confirmation of new US strikes on Friday, but he did not explicitly say whether the US was responsible for the reported Qeshm incident.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA cited local witnesses who said two projectiles struck the Suza area of Qeshm after an aircraft was heard overhead, Reuters reported. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said initial reports indicated that two missiles had hit the island. The extent of any damage or casualties remains unknown.

A US official told Reuters that the US struck Qeshm on 2 November. The following day, Trump told Fox News that US forces had hit an Iranian air-defence installation the previous night.

It is unclear whether his latest remarks referred to that earlier operation, the newly reported incident on Qeshm or another action.