U.S. Central Command said on Friday that American forces shot down two Iranian drones launched toward Bahrain, and denied Tehran's claim that a U.S. early-warning radar had been destroyed. The command said the drones were one-way attack aircraft and reported no injuries or damage.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier on Friday that its aerospace forces had targeted and destroyed the early-warning radar of the U.S. military in Bahrain, in retaliation for what it described as an American attack on a communications tower in the southern Iranian port of Sirik. The Guards called the strike "a serious warning" to Washington, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
CENTCOM said the claim that Iran had attacked a radar system was false. It was the first attempt by Iran to strike a military facility in a Gulf state in more than two months, after Tehran had largely refrained from attacking American military installations in the Gulf since early September, focusing instead on disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange came a day after President Donald Trump said the United States no longer needs a deal with Tehran and ordered Vice President JD Vance to turn his focus to domestic issues, away from negotiations with Iran. The conflict began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and has since spread across the region.
Attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have reached a record high during the conflict. October recorded 37 vessel attacks, according to Lloyd's List, the highest monthly total of the conflict, and at least 14 more were confirmed in November.
