Iran claims radar strike in Bahrain; US says it shot down both drones, no damage

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed on November 13 that it struck and destroyed a US early-warning radar site in Bahrain — a claim the US military rejected within hours, saying its forces shot down both incoming drones before they reached their target and that there were no injuries or damage.

The IRGC launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and both were shot down by US forces. There were no injuries or damage.— US Central Command (CENTCOM)

The IRGC said the strike was retaliation for what it described as an 'enemy' air assault on a telecommunications tower in Sirik — a town along Iran's southern Hormozgan province on the Hormuz coast that houses a portion of Iran's radar and communications infrastructure used to monitor the waterway. The IRGC statement stopped short of directly blaming the United States for the Sirik attack, and CENTCOM made no reference to it.

Sirik has been struck multiple times since the wider conflict broke out, and Tehran has in the past answered attacks on the town's telecoms infrastructure by targeting US facilities in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. The exchange is the first Iranian claim of striking US military assets in a Gulf country since early September.

The drone exchange landed against a backdrop of rapidly deteriorating diplomacy. The day before the incident, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Washington no longer needed a deal with Tehran.

We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!— Donald Trump, US President

In the same post, Trump said he had asked Vice President JD Vance to focus his complete and total attention on corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states — a notable shift given that Vance had devoted months to leading US efforts on a ceasefire and nuclear negotiations. One day earlier, The Wall Street Journal had reported that Vance was weighing direct talks with a senior Iranian security official.

On Thursday, Trump also threatened to renew military strikes against Iran, telling the Salem News Channel he would act 'without hesitation' to prevent Iran from threatening US allies and American vessels. He added that the Iranian regime is on the brink of collapse, claiming inflation has reached 301% and that its military forces have been wiped out.

Speaking to RFE/RL's Radio Farda, US-based national security analyst Shayan Samii said Trump appeared to be following a policy of "neither war nor negotiation," relying on economic pressure in place of military action while leaving that option on the table. Samii added that removing Vance from the Iran portfolio would in effect transfer responsibility for the file to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump is now trying to achieve through economic pressure what a military intervention would not bring him. He has not taken military intervention off the table.— Shayan Samii, US-based national security analyst

On the Iranian side, mixed signals are also muddying the picture. Samii noted that while Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has indicated willingness to negotiate, security chief Mohsen Rezaei has insisted Washington must first accept seven conditions — including ending the US naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and halting fighting on all fronts — before any talks or reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Tensions around the strait itself are intensifying. Iran's army announced on November 12 that two oil tankers had caught fire after striking naval mines in the strait's eastern section, with officials saying the ships had moved into a "prohibited and unsafe zone." Ships have been struck repeatedly in recent weeks by what investigators have attributed to drone attacks or mines.

Lending a longer-term dimension to the crisis, Iran's Assembly of Experts — the body charged with selecting the supreme leader — declared that withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty had become an "unavoidable necessity," as an internal debate over nuclear weapons development continues to grow. Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is what Trump has repeatedly stated as his primary war aim.

The conflict was set off by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. In the months that followed, Iran directed missile and drone attacks at US bases across Gulf states while working to choke off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports in response.

Why it matters — Each exchange of strikes and counter-claims around Bahrain and the Strait of Hormuz edges a conflict closer to direct escalation at a moment when US diplomacy has visibly stalled and Iran is openly debating acquiring nuclear weapons.

Sources differ on Whether the IRGC drone strike damaged a US radar site in Bahrain: IRGC claims it destroyed the radar site. (jpost.com) vs CENTCOM says both drones were shot down; no injuries or damage. (rferl.org)

Reported by reuters.com, rferl.org, jpost.com