Iran "strikes Bahrain's US early warning radar"... US military "intercepts Iranian drone" (comprehensive)

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its forces attacked a U.S. early warning radar in Bahrain. Reuters noted that this was the first case in which the IRGC claimed to have attacked U.S. military facilities in the Gulf country since early September.

Iran claimed that the attack was successful, but the U.S. Central Command countered that it had intercepted the drone used in the attack.

In a statement posted by Iran's state broadcaster on Telegram on the 13th (local time), the IRGC said, "A few hours ago, Aerospace Force fighter jets struck and destroyed a U.S. early warning radar in Bahrain," Reuters and AFP reported.

The IRGC described the move as retaliation for an "enemy aerial attack" targeting a communications tower in the southern Iranian port city of Sirik. Iran's state-run news agency IRNA previously reported that Sirik in southern Iran was attacked by "enemies" the night before, but did not provide specific details.

The IRGC said in a statement that the early warning radar attack was "a stern warning to the enemy to stop aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz." The U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said last month that it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil since this summer through the Strait of Hormuz, a major energy trade route.

Central Command confirmed that there was an Iranian attack attempt, but refuted that it had been neutralized.

Central Command said through the social media

The IRGC's attack on U.S. military facilities that day took place at a time when Iran and the U.S. were conducting indirect peace negotiations mediated by Qatar.

Iran is demanding that the United States lift the blockade of Iranian ports, suspend sanctions on the sale of Iranian crude oil, and cancel all new sanctions. The position is that if the United States implements this, it will immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz and continue follow-up negotiations on other issues.

However, on the social media site TruthSocial on the 12th, President Donald Trump said, "We do not need an agreement with Iran," and ordered Vice President JD Vance, who has been leading the negotiations, to focus on other tasks.

President Trump claimed, “We have secured hundreds of billions of dollars of their money and we have taken control of their Strait of Hormuz.” This remark is interpreted as meaning that the maritime blockade against Iran will be maintained and economic pressure will continue.

On the same day, in an interview with conservative journalist Hugh Hewitt, President Trump also stated that he would resume attacking Iran if necessary, saying, "I will not hesitate if things do not go as planned."