Iran targets Bahrain airbase as strikes resume in Gulf - Middle East crisis live

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the fighting in the Middle East.

Iran has targeted an airbase in Bahrain in the latest resumption of strikes since September, prompting public warnings and sirens to ring out in the Gulf kingdom this morning.

According to Iranian media, the IRGC said it had sent six drones to attack a US radar system hosted in the US-allied island state.

Explosions were heard around the capital, Manama, but Bahrain authorities say their air defences intercepted the attacks before they reached their targets.

Bahrain, which lies directly across the Persian Gulf from Iran, is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and has been repeatedly attacked by Tehran during the course of the war, which has seen flare-ups in strikes amid long bouts of inaction.

There are fears Iran’s attacks this morning might signal a resumption of the war while US President Donald Trump has threatened but refrained from returning to major combat. Negotiations to end the war remain at a stalemate, with the US maintaining its naval blockade and Iran its stranglehold over the strait of Hormuz.

Developments in the Red Sea this morning will add to further concerns for Gulf oil flows.

The Yemeni government forces supported by Saudi Arabia, fighting the Houthis, have retreated from the Bab el-Mandeb area, giving the Iran-aligned rebels even greater control over the critical shipping lane, which Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil producers had been relying on to get their supplies out.

Elsewhere, Hamas has confirmed that a senior commander involved in planning the 7 October attacks was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday.

Here’s a recap of what the various sides have said this morning regarding the latest Iranian strikes targeting a US air base in Bahrain.

The US air defence radar system at the Al-Riffa helicopter base in Bahrain was targeted by six drones belonging to the IRGC Aerospace Force.

The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and any aggression by the American enemy will be met with an even harsher and more forceful response.

Iran continues its systematic hostile approach through its sinful attacks targeting the Kingdom of Bahrain. [Bahrain] rejects turning its territory into an arena for settling scores and holds Iran fully responsible for these attacks.

I’m yet to see a response from the US, but can expect Centcomm (which oversees all American military operations in the Middle East) to comment at some stage, like it did for Friday’s attack. Those strikes also targeted a radar site.

After two months of calm, the explosions have started again for Bahrain citizens.

Locals reported hearing blasts about 4am local time, and then a second round at 6.30am.

It’s exactly what I was hoping wouldn’t happen: Iranian attacks starting again, with all the worry and uncertainty that go with them”, Hayat Ibrahim, 65, told AFP news agency.

Another resident, Mohammed Abdallah, a shopkeeper in the capital Manama, which is just north of the air base targeted said:

I was hoping this period was behind us and wouldn’t happen again.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry posted public warnings on X, telling “residents to remain calm, proceed to the nearest safe location, and follow news through official channels”.

Iran had last launched strikes in the first week of September, when the regime targeted US military assets in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched six drones targeting a US air defence radar at the Al-Rifaa helicopter base on Sunday morning, reported Iranian media.

They said they had attacked the air base in retaliation for “hostile US actions”. The base is about a 30-minute drive south of Manama.

US forces have been quietly carrying out a series of strikes on Iranian sites in recent weeks, including on the key Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, where there’s a major IRGC presence. Trump has called them minor strikes. Bahrain officials this morning have accused Tehran of continuing a “systematic hostile approach” to the kingdom.

The drone flurry this morning comes just 48 hours after Iran launched drones on Friday, the first escalations targeting Bahrain in two months.

That attack targeted an American radar facility. US Central Command said it had shot down the two drones without any injury or damage.

Bahrain officials hadn’t issued any warnings for that attack, but were forced to send out public alerts this morning telling residents to seek shelter. The Interior Ministry told locals to remain calm but proceed to to the nearest safe location.