DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain while a ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately came under attack Saturday, likely Tehran’s response to overnight airstrikes by the United States.
The attacks across the Persian Gulf show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the U.S. reached an interim deal to try and agree on a final accord to end the conflict.
The U.S. had launched its airstrikes in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship trying to get out of the strait on Thursday, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the uneasy ceasefire in the war.
Meanwhile, a multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the strait to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — likely setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran.
Bahrain condemns Iran’s drone attack
That Iran targeted Bahrain likely was not coincidental. The kingdom has been one of the strongest critics of Iran and is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. It just hosted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s foreign ministers, which ended with a call for an end to Iran’s attacks and the strait to be completely open.
A statement from Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said a “number of Iranian drones” targeted the country. It called the attack “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.”
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier on Saturday issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency saying it had targeted several locations “of the U.S. terrorist army in the region.”
It did not name what areas were targeted.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said the military struck Iranian missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites in the overnight strikes.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who has led the American negotiations with Iran, said on social media Friday night that Iran should “pick up the phone” if there are disagreements about the ceasefire agreement.
“But violence will be met with violence,” Vance said.
The U.S. and Iran are still negotiating terms of the deal, including issues such as getting ships through the key strait and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.
Ship comes under attack as strait route expands
Meanwhile, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said that a tanker was attacked Saturday in the strait, saying the crew was safe and no environmental damage was reported. No one immediately claimed the strike, but suspicion immediately fell on Iran.
Just after the report of the ship attack, the Joint Maritime Information Center, overseen by the U.S. Navy, said the route near Oman’s shores is expanding to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic.
Iran has insisted ships must obey its orders and is warning it will start charging fees for transit through the strait, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed. However, ships have been increasingly trying to get out of the Gulf in recent days, to Iran’s ire.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, wrote Friday that “the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules.”
The U.S. and Gulf Arab states have rejected Iran’s demands. The strait is considered around the world as an international waterway, despite being the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.
In its announcement, the Joint Maritime Information Center warned that the threat in the region to ships was “substantial.”
“Mariners are advised of the existence of mines and should expect a naval presence as clearance operations continue,” it said.
