DUBAI — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that their aerospace forces had targeted and destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar installation in Bahrain, in what they described as retaliation for an air attack on a telecommunications tower in the southern Iranian town of Sirik late on Thursday.
The claim, carried by Iranian state media, could not be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military or from Bahrain, and no confirmed information about damage, casualties or the weapon used. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which directs American naval operations across the Middle East, and an attack on a U.S. installation there would be the first reported strike on American military assets in a Gulf country since early September, according to regional reporting.
In a separate development, Iran’s military said four oil tankers had been hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday and Thursday after, it said, the vessels ignored warnings and used a route Tehran calls unauthorised. Iranian state media said two supertankers had struck naval mines and were carrying more than four million barrels of oil between them. Reuters reported that it could not independently verify the Iranian account.
One part of the tanker story was confirmed by an outside source. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, known as UKMTO, said a vessel was hit by an unidentified projectile about 14 nautical miles northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday while leaving the strait, causing a fire in its engine room and the evacuation of its crew.
A new tanker claim on Friday, and a warning to shipping companies
Separately on Friday, the Guards navy said a tanker carrying liquefied gas struck a naval mine and exploded in the eastern part of the strait while using a route Iran calls unauthorised and dangerous. The Guards named no ship, gave no flag, and said nothing about the crew. UK Maritime Trade Operations had issued no report of such an incident by Friday morning, and the claim could not be independently verified. Accounts differ on the cargo: Reuters described the ship as carrying liquefied natural gas, while the Associated Press, citing IRNA, and Press TV described it as a liquefied petroleum gas carrier.
The Guards also warned companies that work with the United States on moving oil through the strait that they face tougher penalties. In their statement they said: “If the enemy repeats its violations and acts of aggression, the IRGC Aerospace Force is on full alert to respond without limits.” The warning came a day after Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, said any country helping American forces would bear full responsibility for the results.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that Sirik, in Hormozgan province near the strait, had been hit in what it called an enemy attack late on Thursday. It did not identify the attacker or specify the target, the damage or any casualties. Residents had earlier reported hearing several explosions, according to Iran International.
The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most important energy routes. About a fifth of the oil shipped by sea passes through it, along with large volumes of liquefied natural gas, and most exports from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar move through the waterway. Brent crude settled at about 96 dollars a barrel on Thursday, according to market reporting, before edging lower on Friday as traders weighed the tanker reports against hopes of diplomatic de-escalation.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis also claimed on Thursday that they had targeted Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, an oil facility in Yanbu and an Aramco building in Riyadh. That claim, too, was not independently confirmed. The pipeline carries about four million barrels a day to the Red Sea port of Yanbu and has become more important as tanker traffic through Hormuz has been disrupted.
The tanker claims fit a pattern the United States disputes. Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command commander, has said the main shipping lanes were cleared of mines weeks ago and remain mine free, and that Iranian mine reports are false. A Central Command spokesman said this week that traffic keeps flowing, with more than 900 million barrels of crude moved through the strait since early May. Ships are being hit in the strait, whatever the cause: at least 10 were struck in the first 10 days of November, after 37 attacks in October, the highest monthly total of the war, according to Washington Institute data reported by Reuters.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the United States no longer needed to reach a deal with Iran. What happens next depends on whether Washington answers the claimed Bahrain strike. A U.S. response would risk widening a conflict now in its 258th day; silence would leave Iran’s account unchallenged. For now, both the Bahrain claim and the full tanker toll remain claims, reported as such, while shipping through the strait continues under heightened risk.
Sources: Reuters reporting on the regional escalation; UKMTO incident reporting; Iranian state media accounts as attributed above.
