Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday that it had "destroyed" a US military early-warning radar in Bahrain, in retaliation for a US strike on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, in southern Iran, The Hindu reported.
"An hour ago, in response to the enemy's air attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, the IRGC's aerospace fighters targeted and destroyed the early-warning radar of the American aggressors on the island of Bahrain," the Guards said in a statement. They called it "a serious warning" to end what they described as "air mischief and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz".
There was no immediate comment from Washington or Manama, Al Jazeera reported, and the claim could not be independently verified.
Why it matters
Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, the main command centre for US naval operations in the Middle East. According to Reuters, cited by Al Jazeera, this is the first time since early September that Iran has claimed an attack on US military assets in a Gulf country.
Background
The US military has carried out limited air strikes in recent days on Qeshm island and other parts of southern Iran near the strait, which it called "defensive in nature". The IRGC says the Strait of Hormuz is closed; the US Navy says it has opened a southern route for commercial ships while keeping its blockade of Iranian ports.
October saw a record spike in attacks on shipping in the strait, with nearly three dozen tankers hit, and at least six vessels were attacked in the first week of November, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, The Hindu reported.
The claim came hours after US President Donald Trump pulled Vice President J.D. Vance off talks with Iran, saying the US did not want a deal, after Qatar-mediated diplomacy failed to make a breakthrough. Iran wants the blockade lifted, its assets unfrozen and war reparations paid before reopening the strait; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called those demands "outrageous and ridiculous".