Iran says it destroyed US radar in Bahrain in retaliation for attack off its coast

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claims to have attacked a US early warning radar in Bahrain, a strike it presents as a response to a bombing of a telecommunications tower in the Iranian port city of Sirik.

According to the semi-official Tasnim agency, citing the Revolutionary Guard, the attack is "a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to stop its air provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz."

The elite army corps warned that if these "violations and acts of aggression" are repeated, its Aerospace Force "is fully prepared to intervene without restrictions."

The Fars agency, linked to the body, maintains that the facility was "attacked and destroyed," although Washington has not yet confirmed the damage.

Bahrain is home to the headquarters of the United States Fifth Fleet, where the main command center for its naval operations in the Middle East is located.

The attack marks the first aggression against a Gulf country since September, and occurs amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, amid fears of a resumption of the war.

After the attack, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Major General Mostafa Izadi, told Iranian media that "the myth that US military bases provide security has come to an end" and that Washington's "imperialism" has proven to be a "paper tiger" in this war.

He added that the Iranian armed forces will respond to threats at "any level and without geographical limitations."

For his part, the country's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, warned this week that if the United States unleashes another war, any military base involved, "from West Asia to Europe," would become a legitimate target for Tehran.

In the midst of the clashes, US President Donald Trump said that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf countries have asked him to refrain from launching more large-scale attacks against Iran, and stated that the United States could destroy its energy infrastructure, its bridges and its industrial facilities in three days.

"Saudi Arabia has asked me to please leave things as they are for a while," he said. "I'm not sure I agree with that," he warned.

Responding to the press about the possibility of new clashes, Trump suggested that he could hit the regime hard in a lightning offensive.

"In one day, their energy disappears. In one day, their bridges disappear. And in one day, their production capacity disappears. It would only take me three days," he said.