Newsletters
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Friday it had targeted and destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar in Bahrain in response to an overnight attack on a telecommunications tower in the southern Iranian port city of Sirik.
"A few hours ago, IRGC Aerospace Force fighters targeted and destroyed the U.S. aggressors’ early-warning radar on the island of Bahrain in response to the enemy’s air aggression against a telecommunications tower in Sirik," the IRGC said in its Statement No. 22, carried by state media and Tasnim news agency.
There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. military or Bahrain.
"This serves as a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to cease its aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz. Should these violations and acts of aggression recur, the IRGC Aerospace Force stands in full readiness to engage without limits," the statement said.
Companies "deceived by the enemy" would face “more serious punishments," it added.
State news agency IRNA said Sirik in Hormozgan province was hit by "enemy fire" on Thursday night. The exchange marks renewed skirmishes after several days of relative calm.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been preparing strikes on Iranian power plants, infrastructure, bridges and industrial facilities but held off after Gulf states asked him not to.
He said U.S. forces remain ready to resume military action if needed, that he is relying on economic pressure and the naval blockade for now, and warned Tehran against targeting U.S. officials.
Trump also said there was no longer a need to reach a deal given what he described as U.S. control over Hormuz.
Speaking at a funeral for 110 soldiers killed in the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, IRGC deputy commander-in-chief Maj. Gen. Izadi claimed fear of Iranian attacks had pushed U.S. aircraft carriers "hundreds of kilometers" back and that the "U.S. had admitted severe depletion of its missile reserves."
"Today, the divine power and deterrence of the armed forces has reached the point where our frontline missile commanders send missiles with two-ton warheads 1,500 kilometers to their targets," he said.
He vowed an "immediate, effective" response "without any geographical limitation" to any aggression and pledged to "avenge the blood" of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Gulf countries bore the brunt of Iranian retaliation after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with strikes on airports, seaports, energy facilities and U.S. assets in allied countries.
The U.S. imposed a blockade on Iranian ports early in the war and in August announced an "economic asphyxiation" campaign. CENTCOM said last month it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil via Hormuz since the summer, as tensions over the claimed Bahrain strike rise.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
