Iran claims strike on US radar site in Bahrain after attack on telecom tower

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has struck a US early-warning radar installation in Bahrain, describing the operation as retaliation for what it called an air attack on a telecommunications tower in southern Iran.

The announcement came hours after Iran's state news agency IRNA, citing official sources, reported that the port city of Sirik in Hormozgan province had been hit by "enemy fire" on Thursday.

In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC framed the strike as a "serious warning" to the "aggressor enemy", demanding an end to what it described as a series of aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Should these violations and acts of aggression recur, the IRGC Aerospace Force stands in full readiness to engage without limits," the statement said.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency reported that the Aerospace Force had "targeted and destroyed" the radar installation. There was no immediate comment from Washington or Manama. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

According to the Reuters news agency, it is the first time since early September that Iran has claimed an attack on US military assets in a Gulf country.

The claim comes amid heightened regional tension. Israeli media, including the public broadcaster KAN, reported that Israel's security cabinet has ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that if the US launches another war, every military base involved, anywhere from West Asia to Europe, would be a legitimate target for Iranian strikes.

US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to return to war if the diplomatic track offered by Qatar fails to deliver a deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, has said economic pressure on Iran is working well enough that resuming large-scale military operations is unnecessary.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Strait of Hormuz would never go back to how it was before the war, adding that "the ball is now in the American court".

US Central Command says its forces are still strictly enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports. The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.