The U.S. hit Iran again on Friday, and President Trump called it no big deal. “We do minor strikes, but they knock out,” he told reporters after landing in West Palm Beach Friday evening, CNBC reported. “They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five.”
These are the first U.S. strikes on Iran since Tuesday’s midterms, when voters handed Democrats the House and Senate in an election many analysts tied to the war. Trump also said the two sides are still talking: “We’re dealing with them now. They want to make a deal.”
What did the U.S. strike in Iran?
By Trump’s account, an Iranian air defense system. Iranian state media reported that two missiles hit the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which sits in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel a big share of the world’s oil passes through. Iranian reports did not identify the targets or any damage, Euronews reported. Trump did not explicitly say his comments referred to Qeshm, and no casualties were reported. Asked whether a deal was close, he said, “we have nobody getting hurt, nobody getting killed.”
It’s the second round in a week. On Monday, explosions were reported on Qeshm, nearby Hengam Island and the mainland around Bandar Abbas, and the U.S. military called those “defensive strikes.” Iran’s army said Friday that its air defenses shot down a U.S. drone over the island. The U.S. has not confirmed that.
Are the U.S. and Iran still negotiating?
Both sides say yes, but they want very different things. Qatar is mediating, and Trump called Qatar’s emir Friday night. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, pushed back on reports that the talks had stalled, writing that “promoting such false claims serves only those seeking to prolong the war,” Middle East Eye reported.
Iran’s price is steep. According to two Middle East officials cited by AP, Tehran won’t negotiate on its nuclear program until the U.S. ends its blockade of Iran’s ports, lifts sanctions, unfreezes Iranian assets, pays for war damage and ends hostilities across the region, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon. “We must see practical measures by the Americans,” said Ali Bagheri Kani, a senior Iranian security official.
What does this mean for gas prices and the new Congress?
Anything that happens in the Strait of Hormuz shows up at the pump, and shipping there has been disrupted since the war began in February. Middle East Eye noted that the surge in energy prices helped sink Republicans on Tuesday. No new price spike was reported after Friday’s strikes, but each round raises the risk of one.
Politically, Trump is striking Iran days after voters gave Democrats control of Congress, and Israel’s own election left Netanyahu short of a majority. The new Congress isn’t seated until January, so for now there’s no new check on what Trump does. We found no war powers response from lawmakers to Friday’s strikes yet.
The BeezLoop Take
Calling a strike “minor” doesn’t make it minor to the people on the other end, or to anyone filling a tank. Trump has said the war is nearly over, then hit Iran twice in one week, while Iran demands concessions he has refused before. That doesn’t look like a deal about to close.
Voters sent a clear message on Tuesday, and Trump’s first move after it was another strike. Democrats who won on ending the war will have to decide whether they say so now or wait until they hold the gavel.
The open question: are these strikes pressure to close a deal, or a sign the war is settling into a long, low boil that nobody in Washington has voted on?
Sources: CNBC · Euronews · Middle East Eye · DNA India (video)
