President Trump confirmed that U.S. forces carried out a new, tightly focused strike against an Iranian air-defense system on Qeshm Island — and he said American forces erased the target in a matter of minutes.

“They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five,” President Trump told reporters Friday in West Palm Beach.

That is the kind of message Tehran understands: America may be pursuing a deal, but it is not going to let Iran rebuild threats to U.S. aircraft and expect those threats to remain standing.

The Associated Press reported that Iranian state media heard two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, a strategically important island in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump characterized the operation as “minor” and said the target was an Iranian anti-aircraft system.

He also said the United States has made progress in talks with Tehran and is working toward a deal.

ADVERTISEMENT

That combination matters. Talks can continue, but Iranian forces do not get a free pass to threaten American aircraft while negotiations are underway.

Qeshm sits at the mouth of one of the most important energy corridors on Earth. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil consumption moved through the Strait of Hormuz each day.

Any Iranian effort to strengthen anti-aircraft coverage there has consequences far beyond one island.

The latest operation also was not an isolated event. The Critical Threats Project assessed that the November 6 strike followed a separate U.S. attack on Qeshm Island earlier in the week.

Its review said Iranian outlets acknowledged the new missile strikes, while President Trump publicly tied the action to an anti-aircraft site. The report placed the strike in the wider context of Iranian attacks on commercial shipping and continuing pressure around the Strait.

There are still unanswered operational questions. The Pentagon has not released a detailed target package, and Iranian officials have made competing claims about U.S. drone activity over the island.

Those claims should not be treated as confirmed without independent evidence.

What is confirmed is that President Trump acknowledged the American strike himself — and described a rapid result against a newly built defensive position.

At the same time, U.S. Central Command is intensifying a different kind of pressure. CENTCOM announced a reward of up to $20 million, along with possible relocation, for information about Iran’s nuclear program, its facilities, equipment, personnel and movements.

ADVERTISEMENT

Al Jazeera reported that President Trump repeatedly said his administration is talking with Tehran and believes an agreement is possible. The report also said Iranian state broadcaster IRIB claimed the country’s forces downed an American MQ-9 drone, while CENTCOM described conditions as relatively calm and offered no additional operational detail.

Qatar, which has played a diplomatic role, pushed back on claims that the negotiations had already collapsed. Its foreign ministry spokesman warned that declaring the talks dead would help those who want the war and regional instability to continue.

The report also placed Friday’s strike after an earlier round of action on Qeshm Island and amid continued debate over Iran’s nuclear program. Those overlapping military and diplomatic tracks are why this small target carries much larger stakes.

That leaves Iran with a clear choice. It can keep rebuilding military threats around the Strait and watch them become targets, or it can take the negotiating track seriously.

President Trump is keeping negotiations open while American forces remove the weapons aimed at them. Tehran now has fresh proof that rebuilding a threat on Qeshm Island can bring an American response within minutes.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.