U.S. Central Command on Friday said it had shot down two attack drones launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. No damage was caused in the attack, CENTCOM said.
According to Iranian state media, the IRGC earlier had said it had targeted a U.S. early-warning radar system in Bahrain, putting U.S. military installations in the Gulf in the crosshairs for the first time in nearly two months and raising fears of renewed conflict.
MBN could not independently verify the claim. The U.S. State Department has designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.
The exchange comes amid regional efforts to prevent any new escalation of the war between Washington and Tehran even as a U.S. naval blockade squeezes Iran and tanker explosions rattle shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said the United States does not need a deal with Iran and steered Vice President JD Vance, who has played a role in efforts to end the war, toward domestic issues.
What Is Behind Iran’s Escalation?
Iranian state media reported that the strike was carried out in response to an “air attack on a communications tower in the city of Sirik, in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan,” according to Reuters.
Jordanian military expert retired Brig. Gen. Omar al-Raddad told MBN that the attack on Bahrain reflects “Iran’s apprehension about imminent U.S. strikes. Through this attack, Tehran wants to show Washington that it is prepared for any escalation and has the capabilities to respond.”
Al-Raddad links Iran’s recent moves to repeated statements by the IRGC about its “readiness and willingness to expand the conflict” across the region and toward Europe. These include the announcement of an “underground missile city.” All of these developments, he said, point in one direction: an attempt to prevent and deter any imminent U.S.-Israeli attack.
Saeed bin Omar, head of the Arab Century Center for Studies in Jeddah, views the Iranian attack on Bahrain as “an attempt to boost morale at home and send a message to Iranians that the authorities remain in control.”
“The Iranian attack on the target in Bahrain has no real impact, given the effectiveness of U.S. defensive capabilities,” bin Omar told MBN.
A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas exploded after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing Iranian media.
Four oil tankers also sustained explosions in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, endangering a relative recovery in shipping traffic.
Trump and ‘Restraint’
In an interview with American political commentator Stephen A. Smith on Thursday, President Donald Trump revealed that several Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia, had asked him to refrain from escalating military operations against Iran. He made the disclosure despite asserting that the United States could destroy Iran’s critical infrastructure in just three days.
“We are doing it a little bit longer way, a little bit more civilly” at the request of “the people that we’re looking to protect,” Trump said. He also said he was not entirely convinced delaying military action was the right course.
Bin Omar said Saudi Arabia was among the countries leading efforts to de-escalate tensions and prevent another war in the region, given the potentially severe damage to the interests of countries across the region and the world from rising energy costs.
Saudi Arabia, he added, “was never seeking an escalation with Iran and restrained many countries in the region that were calling for retaliation against Iran over its attacks on Gulf Arab territory.”
Trump Redirects Vance, Says No Iran Deal Needed
These developments come as Trump directed Vice President JD Vance, who has played a role in efforts to end the war, to devote his “complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States,” as Trump put it.
“We don’t need a deal with Iran,” he wrote. “Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!”
Trump’s directive to his vice president came a day after The Wall Street Journal published a report saying Vance was considering direct peace talks with a hard-line Iranian security official. It also came a week after the vice president blamed the costly war with Iran for the Republicans’ crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
Bin Omar ruled out a large-scale resumption of the war, saying both sides were betting that the current situation would eventually force the other to retreat or make concessions.
“Iran is betting on domestic pressure in the United States to eventually force Trump to withdraw from the region,” he said. “Washington is counting on economic pressure and the blockade it has imposed to compelIran to make concessions, given the extremely difficult conditions Iranians are facing as a result of the war.”
