US Shoots Down Two Iranian Drones Headed for Bahrain as Tehran Claims Radar Strike

The United States military said on Friday it shot down two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, rejecting Tehran’s claim that its forces had destroyed an American early-warning radar in the Gulf kingdom.

US Central Command, known as CENTCOM, said the two one-way attack drones launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were intercepted by American forces, and that there were no injuries or damage. The announcement came hours after the Guard claimed it had struck the radar site in retaliation for an attack on a telecommunications tower inside Iran.

FAKTA

• US Central Command said two Iranian one-way attack drones headed toward Bahrain were shot down by US forces, with no injuries or damage.
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed its Aerospace Force targeted and destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain.
• Tehran said the claimed strike was retaliation for an attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, in southern Iran.
• Neither the Guard’s radar claim nor its separate claim that a tanker struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz has been independently verified.
• Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

What the US military said about the Iranian drones in Bahrain

CENTCOM said the Guard launched the two drones toward Bahrain and that American forces shot both down before they could reach their target. The command described the incident in a statement on Friday, directly disputing the Guard’s account that a US radar installation had been hit.

According to the Associated Press, the US military said there were no injuries or damage from the attempted attack. The Times of Israel, citing CENTCOM, reported the same account: two drones launched, both intercepted, and no casualties or damage.

What Iran claimed

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its Aerospace Force targeted and destroyed a US early-warning radar on Bahrain Island. The claim was carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency, which cited a Guard statement saying the operation was a response to an air attack on a telecommunications tower in the southern Iranian port city of Sirik, in Hormozgan province.

Reuters reported that it was the first such claim of an attack on American military assets in a Gulf country since early September. The Guard did not publish evidence to support the claim, and neither the Bahraini government nor the US military has confirmed that any radar facility was struck.

Why Bahrain matters

Bahrain is a small island kingdom in the Gulf, across the water from Iran, and a close security partner of the United States. It hosts Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and US Naval Forces Central Command, making American facilities there a recurring focus whenever tensions between Washington and Tehran rise.

What remains unverified

Neither Iran’s claim of striking the radar nor its separate claim that a liquefied petroleum gas tanker struck a naval mine and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz could be independently verified. The Associated Press reported that there was no immediate report of the tanker incident from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which monitors incidents at sea.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Information did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The exchange comes during an air war that began in February, when the United States and Israel struck Iran. Since then, Iran has targeted US bases in Gulf states and sought to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital route for global oil and gas supplies.

For more coverage of the region, see the Middle East section on Watan News.