Bahrain condemns Iranian drone attack after overnight US strikes | Bahrain

Bahrain said Iran was attacked by a wave of drones on Saturday, apparently in response to US attacks on Iran overnight. There was also an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bahrain’s foreign ministry said “a number of drones” had been launched into the country, but there were no reports of damage yet. He condemned the attack, calling it “a clear threat to the security of citizens and residents.”

There was no damage or loss of life in the attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. While no one claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran was suspected to be behind the attack.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement early Saturday that it had targeted various locations of the “US terrorist army in the region”, without specifying where. Bahrain hosts the US Navy’s fifth fleet.

The attack came after the US military said it had struck Iranian missile and drone positions as well as coastal radar sites overnight in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

The tit-for-tat attacks were the first incident of violence between the US and Iran since the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last week. The Memorandum of Understanding, the first of its kind signed by the United States and Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979, extended the fragile ceasefire and set a 60-day window for talks to achieve a lasting peace.

There are many gaps between the two sides, and one of the main obstacles is the Strait of Hormuz, which US President Donald Trump wants to reopen as energy prices remain high and a few months before the US midterm elections.

The strait was originally closed by Iran during the war, and its status is still being worked out by Iran, Oman and other regional mediators who are trying to create a post-war framework to govern the waterway.

A multinational maritime agency overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it will expand the route through the Strait of Hormuz near Oman to increase inbound and outbound traffic. This would threaten the main source of leverage for Tehran, which uses its control over the strait and surrounding ships as a card in negotiations with the United States.

The International Maritime Organization halted efforts to evacuate stranded ships from the strait on Friday and said it would not resume until there were guarantees that the ships would not be attacked. The organization said that it was able to evacuate approximately 115 ships in recent days, while other tankers remained stranded for months.

Iran has said ships must comply with the orders and has threatened to start charging fees to ships trying to pass through the waterway. Despite threats and attacks, ships have been trying to leave the strait in recent days.

The United States and Gulf countries have rejected Iranian attempts to control the strait because it is considered an international waterway.

US vice president J.D. Vance, who plays a central role in negotiations with Iran, said on Friday night that Iran should “pick up the phone” in case of disagreement, warning that “violence will be met with violence.”

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Hezbollah rejected the framework agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government in Washington on Friday. Although there is a war between Hezbollah and Israel, Hezbollah does not participate in the talks.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kasim described the 14-article agreement as a surrender to Israel and said it was “null and void”. He accused the Lebanese government of making unnecessary concessions to Israel that undermined the country’s sovereignty.

The document envisages the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and their replacement with Lebanese army soldiers who will be tasked with ensuring that no Hezbollah members return to the region, as well as dismantling the armed group’s infrastructure there.

Israel occupies more than 600 square kilometers of Southern Lebanon, which it says it will not abandon. Israeli forces destroyed dozens of villages in the occupied areas and displaced more than a million residents, primarily in southern Lebanon.

Under the terms of the framework agreement, Hezbollah’s disarmament is a prerequisite for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Hezbollah criticized the attempt to disarm the group, and Qasim said such a possibility would legitimize Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon.

Despite the disagreements, last week’s US-brokered ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel has largely held, with some exceptions. The Israeli army carried out a drone attack in the Nabatieh region on Saturday. Israel said it targeted a person “who posed a threat to its forces”, without providing any evidence for the claim.

Iran has repeatedly linked the durability of the ceasefire in Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon to the success of peace talks with the United States; Israel and the USA resisted this.