Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched six drones targeting a US air defence radar at Bahrain’s Al-Riffa Air Base on Sunday morning also escalating hostilities across the Persian Gulf.
According to Iranian media, the strike located roughly 30 minutes south of Manama was carried out in retaliation for recent US military actions including strikes on Iran’s strategic Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain’s Defence Force confirmed that its air defences intercepted and destroyed the incoming aerial attacks before they reached their targets, adding that all military units remain on high alert. Accusing Tehran of a "systematic hostile approach" Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued emergency public alerts urging residents to remain calm and seek shelter in the nearest safe location.
Sunday’s assault comes just 48 hours after Iran launched two drones at an American radar facility in Bahrain on Friday the first attacks on the kingdom in two months which US Central Command intercepted without damage or casualties. Bahrain hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet directly across the Gulf from Iran.
The renewed clashes unfold amid stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for global energy and trade. Following initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February and a brief April ceasefire, fighting has resumed despite a memorandum of understanding signed in June.
