US strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island as IRGC claims downing of two more US MQM-170 drones - The Express Tribune
The US carried out strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said on Monday. The strikes, earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal, appeared to be limited and were not a resumption of major combat operations, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Another official said the strikes were defensive measures against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets.
The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East. CENTCOM did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media outlet IRNA reported that there were several explosions on Qeshm Island. The Journal reported that the attack was the latest in a series of strikes carried out by Washington in recent weeks. Fox News, citing officials, said the strikes were defensive and carried out in response to Iran firing at a US aircraft.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported five explosions on Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz. Separately, the semi-official Fars news agency said explosions were heard coming from the direction of the sea in Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan province.
The cause of the explosions was not immediately known. Neither agency provided details on casualties or damage. The reports come amid continued diplomatic efforts between Tehran and Washington over tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that the two countries were continuing to exchange messages through mediators. He confirmed that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi had visited Doha to facilitate the exchanges through Qatari mediation.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that it downed two US drones south of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The report said the IRGC Aerospace Force used electronic warfare systems against the two MQM-170 drones, bringing the number of aircraft of that type reportedly captured by Iranian forces to four. Tasnim said the operation had prevented the drones from completing their missions. It provided no other operational details.
The report follows two similar Iranian announcements last week.
On Friday, the IRNA news agency reported that the IRGC Aerospace Force downed an MQM-170 drone over Qeshm Island using electronic warfare systems.
On Thursday, the IRGC Navy said it had seized control of another drone of the same type in the western Strait of Hormuz and landed it intact. The US military rejected Iran’s account of Thursday’s incident.
The latest report comes amid ongoing indirect diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Washington.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Washington has made “progress” in talks with Iran, saying he and President Donald Trump feel “pretty good” about reaching a negotiated settlement.
“I actually just spoke with the president of the United States about an hour ago about this,” Vance told reporters. “Look, the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. We’re going to keep on working at it.”
“The Iranians are always a little unpredictable, and as the president always says, he retains kinetic options. He retains non-kinetic options, but we’ve certainly made some progress. We’ll see if we can make some more,” he said.
Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before strikes resume, Vance said: “No, we haven’t set deadlines.”
“Having destroyed their nuclear program, we want to make sure they don’t rebuild it or try to rebuild it. That’s what matters most to the United States,” he said.
“We do think that there is a pathway there, but it really does require a firm commitment and a verifiable commitment that they don’t rebuild that nuclear program,” he added.
Vance's remarks came hours after Trump said at the reopening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington that Iran wants to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its ninth month.
“They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” Trump said, adding that Iran had asked Washington to stop targeting its leaders, “and we will.”
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or derived from. Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted © 2026 The Express Tribune.
