Qeshm island and Hormuz hit, as mediators try to prevent US-Iran escalation

Tehran, Iran – The United States has bombed Iran after vessels were targeted in the Strait of Hormuz, as mediators continue to try to prevent large-scale fighting between the two countries. Two projectiles hit Iran’s Qeshm on Friday night, the latest in a series of air strikes on the southern island over recent weeks targeting Iranian air defences and launchers.

President Donald Trump called them “minor strikes” , amid increasing concerns of a potential escalation in the war between the countries. Iran’s army said in the early hours of Saturday that it destroyed a US-made MQ-9 drone using an unnamed new system.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) separately claimed on Friday that its air defences intercepted an MQ-1, reportedly the 16th aircraft of this model to be destroyed since the start of the war. At least 11 ships were attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz over the week ending on November 6, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which said three of them sank.