War in the Middle East: American media report “limited” strikes on Iran, Qatar continues to hope for an agreement

The United States carried out limited strikes on an Iranian island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, American media reported Tuesday, despite diplomatic negotiations, still ongoing according to the Qatari mediator, who said he continued to hope for an agreement to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. According to the Wall Street Journal, which revealed them, these strikes targeted the island of Qeshm on Monday, on the eve of the mid-term elections in the United States. The official Iranian news agency IRNA earlier reported five explosions heard on the island, and reported that residents had seen two planes in the sky.

Anonymous US officials cited by the WSJ and several other media outlets said they were the latest in a series of “limited” and “defensive” strikes carried out in recent weeks. According to these sources, they were not announced publicly to avoid giving the impression that Washington intended to resume large-scale combat operations. Asked by AFP, the American military command for the Middle East (Centcom) did not immediately respond. The Israeli army told AFP on Tuesday that it was not involved in these strikes. And if in recent days the media have mentioned a possible short and intense military campaign after the mid-term elections, the tone became much more diplomatic throughout the weekend, on both sides.

A lull observed since the beginning of September

Qatar, mediator in the conflict, assured Tuesday that “both parties remained engaged in the negotiation process” “We remain hopeful that there is still a chance of reaching an agreement,” said Qatari Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed Al Ansari, specifying that Doha was working “to conclude an interim agreement.” Any escalation risks complicating negotiations, he warned, however. “The ball is now in the court of the United States to avoid war,” declared Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during a speech to the parliament, which he chairs.

On Monday, the head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi described these discussions as “very intense” to end the conflict triggered at the end of February by Israeli-American strikes on Tehran. The first phase of the conflict, the most intense, left thousands of civilians dead in nearly 40 days of bombing, before a ceasefire in April followed by a memorandum of understanding in June. This fragile understanding was shattered this summer, with the resumption of exchanges of strikes, Iran once again targeting Washington's allies in the region. A lull has been observed since the beginning of September.

For Donald Trump, “oil prices are falling like stones”

On Monday, Tehran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz in two days instead of seven in a previous plan, proposed in September but refused by Donald Trump. Since the start of the war, Iran has blocked this strategic strait for global hydrocarbon trade and regularly hits ships that try to cross it without its authorization. In retaliation, the United States imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. Iran conditions the reopening of the strait on a ceasefire on all fronts in the region, the unfreezing of its assets held abroad, the lifting of sanctions hitting its oil sector as well as the end of the American naval blockade.

On Sunday, Abbas Araghchi added to these requests, acceptance by Washington of the “new route agreed between Iran and Oman for transit through the Strait of Hormuz”. While his camp suffers from American dissatisfaction with the rising cost of living and the war, Donald Trump assured Monday evening on his Truth Social platform that an agreement with Iran “could happen”.