Bahrain condemns Iranian drone attack after overnight US strikes

No immediate reports of damage after Bahrain hit by ‘number of drones’ as ship in strait of Hormuz also targeted

Bahrain said it was attacked by Iran with a wave of drones on Saturday, apparently in response to overnight US strikes on Iran . A ship in the strait of Hormuz was also attacked.

Bahrain’s foreign ministry said a “number of drones” were launched at the country, though there were no immediate reports of damage. It condemned the attack and described it as a “flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents”.

No damage or casualties were reported in the attack on a tanker in the strait of Hormuz. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iran was suspected to be behind it.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier on Saturday that it had targeted several sites of the “US terrorist army in the region”, without specifying where. Bahrain is home to the US navy’s fifth fleet.

The strikes came after the US military said it struck Iranian missile and drone locations overnight, as well as coastal radar sites, in what it said was a response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship in the strait of Hormuz.

The tit-for-tat strikes marked the first incidence of violence between the US and Iran since a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the two countries last week. The MOU – the first of its kind signed by the US and Iran since the latter’s 1979 Islamic revolution – extended a fragile ceasefire and set a 60-day window for talks to achieve a lasting peace.

Many gaps remain between the two sides, and one of the chief obstacles is the strait of Hormuz, which the US president, Donald Trump, is keen to make operational again, with energy prices remaining high and the US midterm elections a few months away.

The strait was in effect 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 postwar framework to govern the waterway.

A multinational maritime body supervised by the US navy said on Saturday it would expand a route near Oman in thestrait of Hormuz to increase inbound and outbound traffic. This would threaten a main source of leverage for Tehran, which has used its control over the strait and surrounding shipping as a card in negotiations with the US.

The International Maritime Organisation stopped its efforts to evacuate stranded ships from the strait on Friday, and said it would not resume until there were guarantees that ships would not be attacked. The organisation said it had been able to evacuate about 115 ships in recent days, while other tankers remained stuck, some stranded for months.

Iran has said that ships must follow its orders and has threatened to start charging tolls for ships trying to move through the waterway. Despite the threats and attacks, ships have been trying to leave the strait in recent days.

The US and Gulf states have rejected Iran’s attempts to control the strait, as it is considered an international waterway.

The US vice-president, JD Vance, who has played a central role in negotiations with Iran, said on Friday night that Iran should “pick up the phone” in the event of disagreements, warning that “violence will be met with violence”.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Hezbollah rejected a framework agreement reached on Friday in Washington between Israel and the Lebanese government. Hezbollah is not participating in the talks, despite the war being between Hezbollah and Israel.

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

The document laid out a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon , replacing them with Lebanese army soldiers who would be tasked with ensuring no members of Hezbollah returned to the area, as well as dismantling the armed group’s infrastructure there.

Israel occupies more than 600 sq km of south Lebanon, an area it says it will not leave. Israeli forces have demolished dozens of villages in occupied areas and have displaced more than a million residents, primarily from south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the framework agreement, the disarmament of Hezbollah is a prerequisite for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Hezbollah criticised the attempt to disarm the group, with Qassem saying such an eventuality would legitimise Israel’s presence in south Lebanon.

Despite the disagreements, a ceasefire brokered by the US between Hezbollah and Israel last week has mostly held, with some exceptions. The Israeli military carried out a drone strike on Saturday in the Nabatieh area. Israel said it targeted an individual who “posed a threat to its forces”, without providing any evidence for the claim.

Iran has repeatedly linked the durability of the Lebanon ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon to the success of peace talks with the US – something that Israel and the US have resisted.