Donald Trump has authorised strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, after suggesting he would not escalate attacks before Tuesday’s midterm elections. A US official, who wasn’t authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that “Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets” had been targeted on the island in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, speaking to Wall Street Journal. Iranian state television reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island.
Officials told the WSJ that the strikes were intended to prevent Iran from being able to attack allied ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as the global price of oil soars. A huge proportion of the globe’s oil passes through the strait, originating from major exporters in the Middle East.
It comes after President Trump seemed to suggest that attacks had been scaled down and floated the possibility of a diplomatic deal before the midterm elections. “We had a war with Iran. We won,” the President said during an interview with Fox News on Monday. “I don’t know if you even call it a war because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months.”
He claimed the strikes were equivalent to what he described as a “soft war”. “This isn’t a war. It’s a very soft war. But this isn’t like a war that’s going on. There’s no war raging. It could happen if they don’t make a deal.”
It will likely raise fears of further escalation of conflict, coming just a day after a US commentator warned that WW3 could erupt.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pressuring the US President to authorise an attack on Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected Iranian nuclear site in central Iran.
Carlson alleged the underground facility, believed by Israeli intelligence to be linked to renewed uranium enrichment, is protected by around 300 feet of solid granite, making conventional weapons ineffective.
Carlson said: “Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran.
“The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program.”
Iran has denied conducting nuclear activity at the Pickaxe Mountain complex. Donald Trump has previously ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran.
The commentator claimed an American nuclear attack could encourage other countries, including Russia, North Korea, India and Pakistan, to consider using nuclear weapons.
“After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final,” he wrote.
Iran has warned Washington and Tel Aviv against further attacks.
