WASHINGTON.- US President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that the United States struck Iran's Qeshm Island, after US officials said the limited strike answered an Iranian missile fired at an American aircraft over the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran claimed its forces brought down three US drones and said a negotiated settlement could still happen.
In a telephone interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Donald Trump confirmed the strike and said US forces hit an anti-aircraft facility on Qeshm Island "last night very nicely" as soon as it was completed, according to reports of the interview. US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal and Axios said the strike was defensive: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired a surface-to-air missile from Qeshm at an American aircraft, and a US fighter jet then destroyed the missile launcher in self-defence. Officials stressed the operation was limited and not a resumption of major combat operations.
Iran told a different version of the same night. Its state news agency IRNA reported five explosions heard in rapid succession on Qeshm Island on Tuesday, with residents reporting two aircraft in the sky, while the IRGC Aerospace Force claimed it had brought down two MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm using electronic warfare and a US MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz with a newly developed air defence system. The IRGC said it had now seized four MQM-170 drones in total. The US Department of War and US Central Command had not commented on the Iranian drone claims in the reports reviewed.
The exchange came with a diplomatic signal running in parallel. Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that Iran wants a settlement as soon as possible, adding "It could happen!", and said oil prices had fallen by nearly $10 a barrel on expectations that a wider war could be avoided. Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday that Tehran retained the right to self-defence after the island strikes, while Israel's military said it had no involvement in the reported US strikes. Oil prices moved the other way in early Asian trade after the strike reports, with Brent crude up 0.5 per cent to $105.25 per barrel.
Read more on The Wire Post: Donald Trump Strikes Iran's Qeshm Island After the IRGC Downs a US Drone in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran Says Three Oil Tankers Exploded After Hitting Mines in the Strait of Hormuz as Shipping Fears Grow.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal via The Jerusalem Post and The National News; IRNA via Mathrubhumi and Stockbiz; IRGC statements via Press TV; Donald Trump on Truth Social and Fox News via Gulf News live coverage, November 3, 2026. The Iranian drone claims and the US account of what was hit remain competing versions in the sources reviewed.