The United States launched limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island late on Monday, hours after Vice President JD Vance said he was optimistic that diplomatic efforts to end the war were moving in the right direction.

The strikes targeted surface-to-air missiles being used against US assets, according to Reuters and the Associated Press (AP). Several explosions were heard on Qeshm on Monday evening, according to Iranian state media, with local outlets describing their cause as unclear. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US had been carrying out a series of smaller-scale strikes, purposefully kept secret by the Trump administration so as not to signal any intent of resuming the military campaign against Iran.