Iran Says It Struck a US Radar Site in Bahrain and Warns That Bases in Europe Could Be Targets

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it hit a United States radar site in Bahrain, Al Jazeera reported on Friday. The IRGC called the strike retaliation for an air attack by the "enemy" on a telecommunications tower in Hormozgan, Iran's coastal province on the Strait of Hormuz. Russian state broadcaster RT said the claim came while peace talks were stalled and both sides were threatening renewed war. None of the reports reviewed included a US account of damage, and the battle claims of both sides remain unverified.

Tehran also widened its stated target list. Mohsen Rezaei, whom Arab News describes as Iran's security chief, said that if US aircraft take off from a base in a European country to bomb Iran, Tehran would strike that base too. The Nation Thailand carried the same threat against European bases. Al-Monitor reported that Iran says it has lifted self-imposed limits on the range of its ballistic missiles. It also reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no need to attack Iran again, and that Washington has softened its threats since President Trump's party lost the midterm elections.

The two sides' positions do not match. Trump said a deal with Iran was not needed to end the conflict, which implies that the US naval blockade stays in place. Iran is applying pressure through small, deniable strikes and threats against third countries that host US forces.

Israel's politics now affect the conflict directly. Ynet reported that opposition parties installed Avigdor Liberman as chair of the Knesset's foreign affairs and defense committee to oversee decisions on Iran, because they fear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mixes political considerations into security choices. Netanyahu and the defense minister have delayed convening the committee. They suspect Liberman will use the post to push for a government with the ultra-Orthodox parties.