Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has targeted a US early-warning radar in Bahrain, in retaliation for what it described as an air attack on a telecommunications tower in southern Iran. The claim, made on Friday, marks the first time since early September that Iran has said it attacked American military assets in a Gulf country.
In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said the strike was a response to an attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, a port city in Hormozgan province on Iran's southern coast. The statement called the strike "a serious warning" to the "aggressor enemy" to stop what it described as a series of aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz, and said the IRGC's Aerospace Force "stands in full readiness to engage without limits" if the violations recur. The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said the Aerospace Force had "targeted and destroyed" the radar installation.
Iran's state news agency IRNA had reported on Thursday, citing official sources, that Sirik had been hit by "enemy fire". The agency gave no details of the damage, casualties or who carried out the attack. Sirik is home to the IRGC's Shahid Rahbari navy base, and sits on the coast east of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes.
According to Reuters, it is the first such claim of an attack on US military assets in a Gulf country since early September. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, the naval command responsible for American operations across the Middle East. There was no immediate comment from the United States or from Bahrain on the Iranian claim, and the extent of any damage to the radar site has not been independently confirmed.
The claim comes amid a fragile lull in the conflict between Iran and the United States, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February and has since spread across the region. Iran has launched missile and drone attacks on US bases in Gulf states and has sought to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States has expanded a blockade of Iranian oil shipments and offered rewards for information about Iran's nuclear programme.
The day before the claim, President Donald Trump said the United States did not need a deal with Iran and directed Vice-President JD Vance to turn his focus away from the Iran negotiations and towards a campaign against domestic fraud. The White House has declined to say whether the negotiations with Tehran have ended after Mr Trump's post on Truth Social.
Mr Trump has also said that Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have asked him to hold off on further large-scale attacks against Iran, while claiming he could destroy the country's energy infrastructure, bridges and manufacturing facilities within three days. Hours earlier he had said he would not hesitate to launch new military strikes against Tehran if necessary, days after describing renewed attacks as "quite unlikely".
The region has seen a string of maritime incidents in recent days. Iran's navy said it had seized an oil tanker, the Ocean Koi, in the Gulf of Oman, while US Central Command said it had disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers as they tried to enter Iranian ports. The two sides also traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has claimed an attack on navigation systems on Oman's Didamar island, near the southern shipping lane.
Diplomatic efforts to contain the confrontation continue in parallel. Pakistan's military has been acting as a mediator, with army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visiting Tehran twice this month alongside Saudi and Turkish officials, and Iran's president has attended the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye. Vice-President Vance had also weighed direct talks with Iran's top security chief in an effort to end the war.
For now, the Bahrain claim is unverified by any independent source, and neither Washington nor Manama has confirmed that a radar site was hit. What is clear is that the exchange of claims and counter-claims around Sirik and Bahrain has raised the temperature again after a period of relative quiet, and that the Strait of Hormuz remains the most sensitive flashpoint in a conflict that has already redrawn alliances across the Gulf.
