Key facts
- The IRGC said it used six drones against the US air defense radar facility at al-Riffa air base in Bahrain.
- Bahrain's military said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed the attacks before they reached their objectives.
- Bahrain's foreign ministry condemned the attacks and said it holds Iran fully responsible for their consequences.
- The IRGC said in a statement on Iran's state broadcaster: "The Strait of Hormuz is closed."
- The US military denied the IRGC's claim of a strike on a US early warning radar system in Bahrain on Friday.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the US air defense radar facility at al-Riffa air base in Bahrain with six drones on Sunday, November 15, 2026, the second attempt to strike the country in three days.
Bahrain's military said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed the Iranian air attacks "before they could achieve their objectives". As sirens sounded across Bahrain on Sunday, the interior ministry called on citizens to head to their nearest safe location.
Bahrain's foreign ministry said: "The Kingdom of Bahrain condemns in the strongest terms the continued brutal Iranian attacks on its territory and holds Iran fully responsible for their consequences." In a statement shared by Iran's state broadcaster on Telegram, the IRGC said: "The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and any aggression by the American enemy will be met with an even harsher and more forceful response."
The attack followed Iran's firing of drones at Bahrain on Friday, its first attack against Gulf countries since September. Earlier in the week the IRGC claimed it struck a US early warning radar system in Bahrain on Friday; the US military denied the claim, saying the IRGC launched two one-way attack drones towards Bahrain and both were shot down by US forces, with no injuries or damage. The officials described the strikes as limited and defensive and said they were in response to the IRGC firing on a US aircraft.
Iranian state news agency Irna reported explosions on Qeshm on Monday. The IRGC did not comment but said its forces had shot down two US MQM-170 drones south of the island and a US MQ-9 drone east of the Strait.
Iran insists it should control the Strait of Hormuz and has been attacking what it calls "unauthorised" traffic, while the US military provides protection for tankers carrying oil through the strait to keep exports flowing from Gulf Arab states. The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait in June, but it collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports.