U.S. Forces Shoot Down Two Iranian Drones Aimed at Bahrain After IRGC Radar Claim

MIDDLE EAST — U.S. Central Command said on November 13 that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and that U.S. forces shot down both, with no injuries or damage.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force said in Statement No. 22 that its fighters targeted and destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar on Bahrain Island a few hours earlier in response to an enemy air attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik.

U.S. Central Command directly addressed the claim, stating that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it attacked a U.S. early-warning radar in Bahrain but that the actual action was the launch of the two drones that U.S. forces intercepted.

Locations Affected

• Bahrain hosts U.S. naval facilities including the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the Fifth Fleet, located near Manama. The claimed radar site and the area toward which the drones were directed lie within Bahrain. Approximate coordinates for central Bahrain are 26.07, 50.56. Distance from the Iranian coast near Sirik is roughly 150 miles (240 km) west-northwest.

• Sirik, Hormozgan Province, Iran, is a port town on the Strait of Hormuz coast. Iranian state media reported an enemy attack on a telecommunications tower there on November 12. Approximate coordinates are 26.52, 57.10.

Official Statements

• U.S. Central Command, November 13: “The IRGC launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and both were shot down by U.S. forces. There were no injuries or damage.”

• Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, Statement No. 22, November 13: “A few hours ago, fighters of the IRGC Aerospace Force targeted and destroyed an early-warning radar belonging to the American aggressors on the island of Bahrain in response to the enemy’s aerial aggression against a telecommunications tower in Sirik. This is a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to put an end to its aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz. Should such violations and acts of aggression be repeated, the IRGC Aerospace Force remains on full alert to confront the enemy without geographical limitations.”