Bahrain Intercepts Iranian Drones as Tehran Claims Radar Hit

Bahrain's air defences destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks early Sunday, the Bahrain Defence Force said — the first interceptions over the kingdom since September.

Explosions were heard over Manama around 4:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. local time, and the Interior Ministry sent nationwide threat alerts at 5:32 a.m. and 7:50 a.m. Bahrain reported no injuries or damage, and U.S. Central Command hasn't commented on Sunday's attack.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its Aerospace Force targeted the U.S. air-defence radar at the Al-Riffa helicopter base with six drones, calling the attack retaliation for hostile U.S. actions. The claim, carried by Iranian state media and reported by AFP and Reuters, isn't confirmed. Bahrain says the attacks were stopped before they reached their targets, and no U.S. or Bahraini authority has confirmed a radar hit.

The alerts were the Interior Ministry's first since September. They urged residents to seek shelter while explosions were heard over the capital, and Bahrain TV reported air defences engaging overhead. In its statement, the Defence Force accused Tehran of continuing a systematic hostile approach toward the kingdom.

Sunday's attack is the second aimed at Bahrain in three days. On Friday the Guards claimed they'd destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar in Bahrain, and U.S. Central Command denied it the same day: the IRGC had launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain, both were shot down by U.S. forces, and there were no injuries or damage.

Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Manama, which puts U.S. forces inside the kingdom's air-defence picture. The episode lands in the ninth month of the regional war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and it comes amid uncertainty over a deal to end that war.

The Guards' navy separately claimed Sunday that two oil tankers struck naval mines on an unauthorized route south of the Strait of Hormuz and that two others turned back. Maritime authorities haven't verified that claim, and the strait has been effectively closed since February 28.

What happens next turns on Washington. Central Command answered Friday's claim within the day, and it hasn't answered Sunday's — as of 9:25 a.m. ET it had made no public comment on the six-drone claim. A CENTCOM or Defence Force statement on Al-Riffa would settle whether any drone got through. Until one lands, the radar claim stays Iran's word against Bahrain's account that nothing reached its target.