ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump described the conflict with Iran as a “very soft war” on Monday, even as American forces carried out fresh strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to US officials, despite his earlier pledge not to attack the country before Tuesday's midterm elections.
“We are not fighting a war. When was the last time we fired anything? This is a very soft war,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday evening, arguing that the lack of sustained fighting distinguished the confrontation from conventional warfare.
“War is fighting. Take a look at World War I, World War II. When was the last time you saw us fighting with them?” Trump said, noting that Washington had been negotiating with Tehran for months. He also dismissed the $30 billion he said the US had spent on the conflict as “peanuts.”
His remarks came as Washington and Tehran pursued competing diplomatic and military approaches to ending their eight-month confrontation. Qatar and Pakistan have intensified mediation efforts aimed at reaching an agreement, while both sides continue to threaten military action if negotiations fail.
Reuters reported that American forces struck Iranian targets on Qeshm Island on Monday, citing US officials who described the attacks as limited defensive measures targeting Iranian forces using surface-to-air missiles against American assets. Iran state media reported several explosions on Monday night in Qeshm island.
The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous US officials, that the operation was the latest in a series of previously unannounced strikes against Iranian positions in recent weeks. Iranian state media also reported explosions on Qeshm Island.
The strikes appeared to contradict an early October pledge by Trump that Washington would not attack Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, although US officials characterized Monday's operation as defensive rather than a resumption of large-scale hostilities.
Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed late Monday that its forces had destroyed an American MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the number of such aircraft it claims to have downed to 55.
In another statement, the IRGC claimed that its electronic warfare systems had intercepted and brought down two American MQM-170 drones south of Qeshm Island. The claims could not be independently verified. The US military previously rejected similar Iranian claims involving the same type of drone.
During his Fox News interview, Trump also threatened further strikes against Iran's nuclear infrastructure, specifically naming Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear facility near Natanz.
“We bombed all their potential nuclear power. Now, we might have to go after Pickaxe, but that's not a big deal. We can do that in, literally, one hour,” he said.
Trump maintained that Iran was negotiating from a position of weakness, claiming its economy was collapsing under American pressure and inflation had reached 301 percent.
“They don't have money. They are not paying their soldiers. They are not paying their police,” he claimed, while expressing confidence that an agreement remained possible.
“It could happen if they don't make a deal, but they want to make a deal very badly. There's a very good chance we make a deal,” he said.
The remarks coincided with a renewed diplomatic push by Qatar, whose mediators traveled to Tehran on Monday evening to discuss a proposed agreement with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Reuters reported, citing an official briefed on the negotiations.
The delegation, reportedly headed by an adviser to Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, was making its third visit to Tehran in a week. Its arrival followed intensive discussions in Doha involving Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi and Qatari mediators.
Speaking to Iran's state news agency IRNA on Monday, Araghchi said negotiations were continuing through Qatar and Pakistan, involving dozens of telephone conversations and intensive diplomatic exchanges.
“We have announced our specific conditions and presented our formulated plan; now everything depends on how much political rationality prevails on the American side,” he said.
Araghchi praised Qatar and Pakistan's mediation efforts but warned that Tehran was prepared for both diplomacy and renewed military confrontation, threatening a harsher response to further American attacks.
Iran has proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days if Washington accepts its conditions, which include lifting the US naval blockade and restrictions on Iranian oil exports. However, the latest round of negotiations has yet to produce a breakthrough.
Trump separately told Axios on Monday that he was in “no rush” to decide whether to resume large-scale attacks against Iran, suggesting that Washington would continue exploring a diplomatic settlement while retaining military options.
The US outlet said US Vice President JD Vance and US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff have advised Trump to reach a lasting agreement with Tehran, a position backed by Arab Gulf States.
Meanwhile, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu continue pushing for the resumption of major military operations, saying Iran couldn’t be trusted.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have advised Trump to maintain the current status quo of "no war, no deal."
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