Iranian media suggested explosions in southern Iran on Saturday evening were related to Iranian military activities rather than US strikes while both sides reported that shipping had been hit in or near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s state television said officials had not confirmed any missile strikes on Iranian territory following blasts heard in several areas, including on Qeshm Island in the strait. Neither Iran nor the US has commented on that report. Washington said on November 2 that it had struck the island in a limited defensive measure against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets.
President Donald Trump had hinted at renewing major attacks on Iran after last week’s US midterm elections but there has been no sign of a large-scale US military operation, which Iran has said it would respond to by striking US and Israeli targets. Iran’s state television said the evening explosions might be related to Iranian military activity in the waterway, where Iran said two vessels had hit mines and a third had caught fire. The US said its air force had disabled a vessel in the Gulf of Oman beyond the strait. Tasnim news agency said two missiles had struck Qeshm Island, with no official information on possible damage. The Qatari prime minister had affirmed that both sides were continuing to work toward an agreement, it said.
The US military said on Saturday evening that its air force had fired at the stern of a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman, disabling it as it tried to get through the blockade. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said an administrative building belonging to state oil company Saudi Aramco in Riyadh had been damaged by falling debris after an attempted attack, with no injuries or fatalities reported.
