Iran struck a US base in Bahrain with drones on Sunday, its second attempt to hit the country in three days.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of the country stated that it used six drones to target the US air defense radar facility at Al-Riffa air base in Bahrain.
Bahrain’s military reported that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed the Iranian air attacks “before they could achieve their objectives.”
This follows Iran’s drone launch at Bahrain on Friday, which was its first attack on Gulf countries since September.
The US and Iran remain locked in a stand-off over the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly a fifth of the world’s gas and oil supply typically passes through it, but shipping has been limited since the war began in February.
Iran maintains that it should control the strait and has been targeting what it describes as “unauthorized” traffic, while the US military is providing protection for tankers carrying oil through the strait to keep exports flowing from Gulf Arab states.
As sirens sounded across Bahrain on Sunday, the interior ministry urged citizens to go to their nearest safe location.
Bahrain’s foreign ministry said, “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.”
In a statement on the strikes shared by Iran’s state broadcaster on Telegram, the IRGC said: “The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and any aggression by the American enemy will be met with an even harsher and more forceful response.”
Earlier this week, the IRGC asserted that on Friday it had struck a US early warning radar system in Bahrain.
The US military has rejected that claim, saying the IRGC sent two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and that US forces shot both of them down. It went on to say that there were no casualties and no damage.
US officials told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that earlier in the week the US had carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
The officials called the strikes limited and defensive and said they came in response to the IRGC firing on a US aircraft.
Iran’s state news agency, Irna, reported explosions in Qeshm on Monday. The IRGC offered no comment but said its forces had downed two US MQM-170 drones south of the island and an American MQ-9 drone east of the Strait.
In June, the US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait, but it fell apart within weeks as Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Iranian negotiators had been discussing with mediators a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days provided the US meets seven conditions, which reportedly include lifting the naval blockade and releasing frozen Iranian assets.
This week, however, Donald Trump said the US was no longer interested in a deal to end the war with Iran, and he directed Vice-President JD Vance, who had been involved in efforts to restart the talks, to concentrate on domestic US politics.
