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Clashes broke out between pro-Iran demonstrators and security forces on Bahrain’s Sitra Island as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted a United States air base in the Gulf kingdom, according to a statement carried Tuesday by the official IRNA news agency.
Images of the clashes on Sitra Island between pro-Iran demonstrators and security forces circulated in Bahrain’s local media and on social media platforms.
Security forces detained some individuals who took part in the pro-Iran demonstrations.
Posts circulating online claimed that units from the Peninsula Shield Force, affiliated with the Gulf Cooperation Council, entered Bahrain from Saudi Arabia to support security forces. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have not issued statements on the matter.
In a written statement, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said individuals involved in serious crimes threatening public security were taken into custody.
The ministry said some detainees had shared videos expressing sympathy for Iranian attacks and that, since the start of Iran’s attacks against Bahrain, the Cybercrime Directorate had identified and arrested individuals involved in serious crimes threatening public security.
It said those detained used artificial intelligence to produce fabricated videos portraying homes as if they had been damaged, shared the footage on social media and aimed to mislead the public and frighten citizens.
Meanwhile, IRGC said it targeted a United States air base in Bahrain as part of what it described as the 14th wave of the True Promise 4 operation, according to IRNA.
“The IRGC announced that ... its naval forces carried out a large-scale drone and missile attack at dawn on the US air base in the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain,” IRNA posted on Telegram, using the acronym for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The force said 20 drones and three missiles were launched, “destroying the base’s main command headquarters,” without providing evidence.
The statement said the main command and headquarters building of the U.S. air base in Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa area was targeted with 20 unmanned aerial vehicles and three missiles.
Sirens later sounded across Bahrain, and explosions were heard after air defenses were activated.
Tehran’s latest claimed attack followed Iranian missile and drone salvos across the Gulf region in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began Saturday.
Four witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP) early Tuesday that explosions were heard and clouds of smoke were seen in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, which houses foreign embassies and diplomats’ residences.
Two drones struck the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, sparking a fire, a Saudi Defense Ministry spokesman said.
In Qatar, the military intercepted two ballistic missiles early Tuesday, the country’s Defense Ministry said, after AFP reporters heard loud explosions over Doha.
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