Trump says U.S. carried out "minor strikes" on Iran as missiles hit Qeshm Island
President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that the U.S. carried out "minor strikes" on Iran. He spoke after landing in West Palm Beach, Florida. He did not explicitly confirm that the strikes were the ones reported at Qeshm Island.
Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that two missiles struck Qeshm Island on Friday, according to Reuters. Tasnim said there was no official information on damage. Qeshm lies off Iran's southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said: "We do minor strikes, but they knock out. They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five." He also said: "I don't want to talk about it" when asked about Qeshm specifically.
The report says the U.S. struck the same island Monday. A U.S. official told MS Now that Monday's strike was a "defensive measure."
Trump said Iran wants "to make a deal very badly" and cited "300% inflation." The International Monetary Fund forecast that Iran's consumer prices would rise by an average of 78.6% in 2026, in a report published Oct. 13.
Iran has said it wants more than "paper commitments" from the U.S. before entering a new phase of diplomatic talks. Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state broadcaster IRIB on Friday: "We must see practical measures by the Americans," according to Press TV.