Iran Targets US Military Base in Bahrain With Drone Attack
As reported by BBC News, Sunday saw Iran carry out an unmanned aerial vehicle strike directed at an American military facility located in Bahrain, marking its second attempt to hit the nation within a 72-hour period.
Deployment of six drones was used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to strike the American radar installation for air defence situated at al-Riffa air base in Bahrain. Bahrain’s military announced that its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed the incoming strikes before they reached their objectives. The incident follows an earlier drone launch toward Bahrain on Friday, marking Tehran’s first such strike against Gulf countries since September.
The two nations remain locked in a tense stand-off over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply typically flows. Shipping traffic has faced severe restrictions since the outbreak of war in February.
Iran asserts that it should control the strait, targeting what it labels unauthorised traffic, while the US military provides armed protection for tankers to keep energy exports moving from Gulf Arab states.
“The Kingdom of Bahrain condemns in the strongest terms the continued brutal Iranian attacks on its territory and holds Iran fully responsible for their consequences,” Bahrain’s foreign ministry said.
The interior ministry sounded sirens across Bahrain on Sunday and urged citizens to seek shelter immediately.
In a statement shared via Iran’s state broadcaster on Telegram, the IRGC warned that “any aggression by the American enemy will be met with an even harsher and more forceful response.”
Earlier in the week, the IRGC claimed it struck a US early warning radar system in Bahrain on Friday. The US military rejected that assertion, confirming instead that forces shot down two one-way attack drones heading toward Bahrain without causing any injuries or damage.
US officials told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that American forces carried out limited and defensive strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island inside the strait. Those actions came in response to the IRGC firing on a US aircraft.
Iranian state news agency Irna reported explosions on Qeshm on Monday. While the IRGC did not directly comment on those blasts, it asserted that its forces shot down two US MQM-170 drones south of the island alongside a US MQ-9 drone east of the strait.
The US and Iran previously reached a preliminary agreement in June aimed at ending the conflict and reopening the shipping lane. However, that pact collapsed within weeks when Iranian attacks on commercial shipping resumed, prompting Washington to reinstate a naval blockade against Iranian ports.
Iranian negotiators subsequently discussed a proposal with mediators to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the US met seven conditions. Those terms reportedly included lifting the naval blockade and releasing frozen Iranian assets.
Yet, those diplomatic efforts suffered a definitive blow when Donald Trump said that the US was no longer interested in a deal to end the war, ordering Vice-JD Vance to shift focus entirely to domestic US politics.
“The Strait of Hormuz is closed,” the IRGC said.