Iranupdated 1h ago3 min read
Archive photo · 25 February 2020Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Targets U.S. Radar in Bahrain as Saudi Reports Missile Intercepts
“The Guards said their Aerospace Force carried out the operation and claimed the drones struck their target.”
“The IRGC launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and both were shot down by US forces.”
Photo: Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
IRGC claims it destroyed a US early-warning radar at Bahrain's Al-Rifa’a base. Iran says the strike is retaliation for a US telecommunications tower attack in Sirik.
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Bahrain, Riyadh, and Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced it carried out a drone attack on an American radar system at a base in Bahrain, and the official IRNA said the United States Air Defense radar system at the Rabbāh helicopter base in Bahrain was targeted by six drones belonging to the IRGC Aerospace Force. Saudi Arabia said its coalition spokesperson, Brigadier General Turki al-Malki, reported that “The air defense intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward Riyadh.” Bahrain’s official television announced that “Bahraini air defense systems intercepted and destroyed an Iranian drone,” after Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued a warning about a potential threat twice and urged citizens and residents to remain calm and move to the nearest safe location.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also said it targeted a US air-defense radar at Bahrain’s Al Riffa helicopter base with six drones, while the force claimed the Strait of Hormuz remained closed and threatened a stronger response to any further US attacks. Iran’s state media quoted the Iranian Navy as saying that three tankers caught fire on Saturday after colliding with naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while Reuters said it had not yet been able to verify the report.
Competing claims and warnings
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said its forces “carried out a drone attack on an American radar system at a base in Bahrain,” while the BBC reported that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were subjected to ballistic missile and drone attacks in the early hours of Sunday launched from Yemen and Iran.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued another danger alert, urging citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe location, and the ministry also urged the public to follow updates through official channels.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said its Aerospace Force carried out the operation and claimed the drones struck their target, and the Guards also claimed American drones were being shot down and said they had deployed more drones against US targets in this round than in the previous one.
US Central Command denied the Iranian claim that a radar system had been destroyed, and CENTCOM said “The IRGC launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and both were shot down by US forces. There were no injuries or damage,” according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the threat from Iran must be eliminated “once and for all,” and he accused Tehran of seeking to revive its nuclear program while calling for a national unity government to confront it.
Nuclear talks and regional risk
Iran’s mission to the IAEA rejected the director-general Rafael Grossi’s report on the Iranian nuclear program, calling it “one-sided,” and the mission said standard inspection and nuclear guarantees measures cannot be resumed under “extraordinary circumstances” resulting from the attacks targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.
The mission accused the IAEA Board of Governors of relying on resolutions it described as flawed both technically and legally, while the BBC said the mission argued attacks on facilities subject to IAEA safeguards created unprecedented conditions, disrupted inspections, and prompted the withdrawal of inspectors.
The Journal Gazette reported that the UN’s International Maritime Organization said 25 seafarers died and many others were injured or remain missing following some 134 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East maritime area as of Nov. 11.
The Journal Gazette also reported that Iran told the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that discussions on nuclear monitoring cannot proceed while the country is facing military threats, and it said Iran’s deputy U.N. ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that its response to any renewed fighting would be “directed against the source of aggression, wherever it may be.”
The Guardian reported that Iran’s Assembly of Experts called for a review of Iran’s membership of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, describing the move as an “unavoidable necessity” and a “public and national demand,” while the article said the assembly’s intervention carried religious as much as political significance.