Iran said it targeted a US military installation in Bahrain early Friday in retaliation for what it described as an American attack on Iranian territory, marking its first attempt to strike a military facility in a Gulf state in more than two months.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said later Friday that American forces shot down two Iranian drones launched toward Bahrain, reporting no injuries or damage.
“A few hours ago, the IRGC’s aerospace forces, in response to the enemy’s aerial aggression against a communication tower in Sirik, targeted and destroyed the early warning radar of the aggressor US military in Bahrain,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, adding that “this is a serious warning” to Washington.
CENTCOM said the claim that Iran attacked a radar system was false.
While the US has continued striking Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, Tehran has largely refrained from attacking American military installations in Gulf states since early September, focusing instead on disrupting shipping through the waterway.
Meanwhile, the director of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, Roman Gofman, was in Washington, DC, Friday, on a visit that comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently sought to push the Trump administration into a return to war with Iran. Two Israeli sources say Netanyahu has even considered a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran, though he would still need approval from US President Donald Trump to carry it out.
Gofman was expected to meet with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. His visit was first reported by Axios. The prospect of Israel acting alone at Netanyahu’s behest after he lost his governing majority is concerning enough that his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, demanded and received a security briefing from the prime minister.
CNN has reached out to the Israeli embassy in Washington, the White House and CIA for comment.
The Iranian attack came a day after Trump said the US no longer needs a deal with Tehran and ordered his vice president to turn his focus elsewhere.
“We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!”
Trump also directed Vice President JD Vance, who had been tasked with leading negotiations between the US and Iran, “to focus his complete and total attention” on rooting out corruption and crime in Democratic states and cities.
So far, Trump has held off on a renewed offensive and claimed his economic pressure campaign has been sufficient in weakening Tehran. Netanyahu had been pushing the US to carry out new strikes on Iran ahead of the US midterms.
Iran has warned that it will not accept a stalemate as it comes under intense economic pressure from punishing US sanctions and a naval blockade.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had instructed his government “to end the state of neither war nor peace,” telling him to “finish” the war with the US.
He said the Islamic Republic “can negotiate with dignity, and can finish it (the war) with dignity.”
The exchange comes as attacks on shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz reach a record high. October recorded 37 vessel attacks, Lloyd’s List reported Friday, the highest monthly total of the conflict. At least 14 more were confirmed in November, the maritime intelligence group said.
Despite the attacks, oil has continued to flow through the waterway, with Middle East exports recovering faster than global oil demand.
The International Energy Agency said Friday that the oil market is “showing tentative signs of rebalancing,” and that global oil supplies are surpassing demand for the first time since the outbreak of the Iran war.
Iran has warned that any new escalation in the war would prompt it to dramatically expand its attacks, potentially targeting US interests as far away as Europe.
