Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it launched six drones at a US air-defence radar at the Al-Rifaa helicopter base in Bahrain on Sunday. Bahrain said its air defences intercepted them before they reached their targets. Iran’s account that the radar was hit has not been independently verified.

The competing accounts leave the result of the attack unclear. The incident comes amid stalled negotiations between Tehran and Washington and follows another Iranian operation announced against a US radar in Bahrain on Friday.

Iran and Bahrain give different accounts

The Guards said Sunday’s drone launch was retaliation for US actions against Iran. Bahrain’s authorities said their air defences intercepted the drones. The available reports do not establish whether the radar was damaged or whether there were casualties.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Tehran would continue to respond to military aggression by the United States or other countries. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, held Iran responsible and rejected the use of its territory to settle scores.

Washington had not responded to the Sunday attack at the time of a report by Peru’s RPP news agency. The result of the operation therefore remains disputed: Iran said the radar was hit, while Bahrain said the drones were intercepted before reaching their targets.

A second radar dispute in three days

On Friday, Iran’s military command said it had destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain. US Central Command said it had intercepted two drones heading towards the country, with no injuries or damage, and denied that the radar had been hit.

Bahrain hosts significant US military facilities, including facilities associated with the US Fifth Fleet. The latest attack announcement adds to tensions around a country that is an important location for US forces in the region.

Diplomacy remains stalled

The conflict began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran have since stalled, and the conflict remains at an impasse.

With Bahrain and Iran offering sharply different accounts of what happened at Al-Rifaa, whether the radar was struck remains an open question. The sources do not establish what will happen next, while Baghaei’s statement signals that Iran says it intends to keep responding to military aggression.