US denies Iran’s claim it hit two radar sites in Bahrain

The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) says it shot down two attack drones launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Friday, and that no injuries or damage were caused.

It comes after the IRGC said it targeted a US early-warning radar in Bahrain in retaliation for what it described as an air attack on a telecommunications tower in southern Iran.

Reporting from the White House in Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said neither the US nor the Iranian claims could be confirmed.

“We have what the IRGC are saying, while CENTCOM is saying there were two one-way attack drones shot down by the US as they headed towards Iran,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said the US has attacked telecommunications networks at military sites in southern Iran “from time to time”.

“Iran was not responding by attacking US military assets in the region, but now it is the first time they are doing so,” he said. “So the question is, will Iran continue to attack US military assets in neighbouring countries, which could lead to another wave of war?”

The IRGC’s claim came hours after Iran’s state news agency IRNA, citing official sources, reported that the port city of Sirik in Hormozgan province was hit by “enemy fire” on Thursday.

In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC called the strike a “serious warning” to the “aggressor enemy” to stop what it said was a series of aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Should these violations and acts of aggression recur, the IRGC Aerospace Force stands in full readiness to engage without limits,” the statement said. The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said the IRGC’s Aerospace Force had “targeted and destroyed” the radar installation.

First Bahrain attack since September

According to the Reuters news agency, it is the first time since early September that Iran has claimed an attack on US military assets in a Gulf country.

The claim comes as Israel’s security cabinet has ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, according to Israeli media, including the public broadcaster KAN.

Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that if the US launches another war, every military base involved, anywhere from West Asia to Europe, would be a legitimate target for Iranian strikes.

A Pentagon inspector general’s report released in September found that Iranian attacks damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings at US installations in eight countries, including Bahrain, in the first four months of the war.

Analysts say several US bases in the region have been rendered almost unusable.

US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to return to war if the diplomatic track offered by Qatar fails to deliver a deal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, has said economic pressure on Iran is working well enough that resuming large-scale military operations is unnecessary.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Iran’s parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Strait of Hormuz would never go back to how it was before the war, and that “the ball is now in the American court“.

Meanwhile, CENTCOM says its forces are still strictly enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.

The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.