Iran retaliation raises questions about US air defences

Iran's strike on US Navy base in Bahrain will worry Washington and its allies in the region.

Iran launched missiles on Saturday, Feb. 28, that struck near the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, in what Iranian officials described as retaliation for earlier U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.

The Iranian military says it launched attacks on four US military sites in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for joint US-Israeli strikes across Iran, reported German Press Agency (dpa). Targets included Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the US naval fleet in Bahrain, according to Iran's Fars News Agency.

The U.S. and Israel launched a massive coordinated military operation against Iran, targeting its military infrastructure, air defenses, and facilities linked to its nuclear program. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, resulting in significant casualties and damage.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the U.S. base in Bahrain after Iranian forces said they targeted the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. No U.S. casualties have been reported, a U.S. official said at about 1:45 p.m. Bahrain time on Saturday, roughly two hours after the strikes began.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed Saturday that it had targeted the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain, after the Gulf state previously announced that the base had been hit by a missile attack. "The missiles and drones of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, as well as other U.S. bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and military and security centers located in the heart of the occupied territories," the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran wrote in a statement released by the Tasnim news agency.