Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it targeted a US early-warning radar in Bahrain. It released the statement on Friday morning. The IRGC said the strike answered an air attack on a telecommunications tower in southern Iran. The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said the IRGC's Aerospace Force had "targeted and destroyed" the radar. The reports carried no US comment on the claim.
The claim came hours after the state news agency IRNA reported an attack on Sirik. It said "enemy fire" had hit the port city in Hormozgan province on Thursday. BBC Swahili reported that the air attack happened overnight. Iranian media reported it about an hour before the IRGC announcement. The IRGC later confirmed the attack. It said the tower near the Persian Gulf coast was among the targets.
In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC called the strike a "serious warning" to the "aggressor enemy". It said the enemy must stop aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement warned that the IRGC Aerospace Force is ready "to engage without limits" if such acts recur.
Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in the capital, Manama. The base is the main command centre for US naval operations in the Middle East. It was hit in the opening hours of the war on February 28. According to Reuters, this is the first time since early September that Iran has claimed an attack on US military assets in a Gulf country.
The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran. A Pentagon inspector general's report released in September assessed the damage. It found that Iranian attacks damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings at US installations in eight countries in the first four months of the war. Bahrain was one of them. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that if the US starts another war, every military base involved would be a legitimate target.
Tensions are rising again. Israeli media, including the public broadcaster KAN, report that Israel's security cabinet has told the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran. News outlets report that the US has reduced troop numbers at regional bases. US Central Command said it "regularly" moves personnel and assets to "optimise mission readiness". It added that its forces are still strictly enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Diplomacy is still running alongside the threats. US President Donald Trump has said he is ready to return to war if Qatar's diplomatic track fails to produce a deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said economic pressure on Iran is working well. In his view, that makes large-scale military operations unnecessary. Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that "the ball is now in the American court".