Revolutionary Guards say they destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain in retaliation for the strike on Sirik

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on the morning of Friday, November 13 that its Aerospace Force struck and destroyed an American early-warning radar in Bahrain. The Guards present the attack as retaliation for an air strike on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, in the Hormozgan province of southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz. Neither the US nor Bahrain has commented on the claim and the information has not been confirmed independently. It is the first time since early September that Tehran says it hit an American military target in a Gulf country.

What the Guards’ announcement says

The announcement, published by the Tasnim agency, says Aerospace Force units “targeted and destroyed a few hours ago the early-warning radar of the American invaders on the island of Bahrain”. The Guards call the action a “serious warning” to the “attacking enemy” to stop its “air provocations” and “oil smuggling” in the Strait. “If the violations and attacks are repeated, the IRGC Aerospace Force is in full readiness to respond without geographical limits”, the text concludes.

The announcement also contains a threat to shipping. Companies that “violate the rules” and are “deceived by the invading enemy” will face “even harsher punitive measures”, the Guards note.

The explosions in Sirik

The escalation began on the evening of Thursday, November 12. The state agency IRNA relayed from “official sources” that the port of Sirik came under “enemy fire”, without saying who fired or whether there were casualties. The WANA agency reported that residents heard explosions at intervals for several hours and that the cause remained unclear. The same agency also recorded the version that the bangs came from warning fire at ships that were not observing Iranian restrictions in the area. A few hours earlier the Iranian army had announced explosions on two tankers in the Strait that, according to Tehran, had not complied with its rules. The new element on Friday is that the Guards now attribute the explosions in Sirik to an air strike on a telecommunications tower.

Who carried out the Sirik attack has not been clarified. The Guards speak of “American invaders” only in the part about the radar, while for the strike on the tower they write generally of “the enemy”. No American or Israeli authority has claimed responsibility.

Why Bahrain matters

Bahrain hosts, in Manama, the naval base NSA Bahrain, headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet and the centre of American naval operations in the Middle East. The base had already been hit in the first hours of the war, on February 28. Since September Iranian threats against American bases had stayed at the level of statements, the latest being that of Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, that every base taking part in a new attack would become a legitimate target “from West Asia to Europe”.

The Guards’ announcement comes after 24 hours of tension in the Strait, with four tankers in flames according to the Iranian side, and while the US maintains its naval blockade of Iranian ports. On Thursday Donald Trump had already said the US does not need a deal with Iran. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on the Salem News Channel, asked whether he would hesitate to use military force to stop Iranian threats against allies and ships, he answered: “No. No hesitation.” He added that “it’s possible I’ll do it even now” and argued that the Iranian regime is on the verge of collapse.

It remains to be seen how Washington will react. US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Bahraini government had given no information on damage or casualties in Manama at the time of writing.