Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published November 13, 2026
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Friday that it destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar in Bahrain. Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted the Guard as saying the attack followed a U.S. strike on a telecommunications pole in the southern port of Sirik. It was Iran’s first report of targeting a facility in Bahrain since September.
U.S. Central Command denied the claim, saying the Guard launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and U.S. forces shot down both, with no injuries or damage. Bahrain’s Ministry of Information had not immediately responded to requests for comment. The Guard’s account could not be independently verified.
The Guard called the strike a “serious warning” to Washington to stop its “aerial provocations.” Its statement stopped short of directly blaming the U.S. for the Sirik attack, which IRNA attributed to an unnamed “enemy.” Sirik hosts part of Iran’s radar and communications network monitoring the Strait of Hormuz and has been hit repeatedly since the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Tanker reported hit by mine
The Guard also said a liquefied petroleum gas tanker struck a mine and exploded in the eastern Strait of Hormuz after ignoring repeated warnings. The claim could not be verified, and the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency had no immediate report of the incident. On Thursday, Iran’s army said two oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines in the same part of the strait. There have been numerous reports of ship explosions in recent weeks, from drone attacks or mines.
Washington’s stance on talks
On Nov. 12, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. does not need a deal with Iran. In the same post he said Vice President JD Vance, who had led efforts toward a cease-fire and nuclear talks, would focus on domestic issues. Iranian officials have given mixed signals. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said Iran will negotiate, while security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said talks cannot resume until the U.S. accepts seven conditions. These include ending the U.S. naval blockade and releasing frozen Iranian assets.
Nuclear treaty debate in Iran
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, which appoints the supreme leader, said withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty had become an “unavoidable necessity” amid a growing domestic debate about nuclear weapons. Trump has repeatedly said preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is his primary war aim.
Funerals for Iran-Iraq war dead
Remains of 350 unidentified soldiers from the Iran-Iraq war were carried through Iranian cities Friday, one of the largest such funerals in recent years. Thousands joined a procession for 110 of them in Tehran, with President Masoud Pezeshkian and acting Revolutionary Guard chief Gen. Mostafa Izadi attending.
