Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday it had targeted a US early-warning radar in Bahrain, in retaliation for what it described as an air attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik county, in Iran's Hormozgan province, according to Iranian state media. The claim, reported by Reuters, is the first time since early September that Iran has claimed an attack on US military assets in a Gulf country. Iran's state news agency IRNA had earlier reported that Sirik was hit by enemy fire on Thursday.

In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC called the strike a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to stop what it said were aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that its Aerospace Force stood ready to engage without limits if the violations recurred. The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said the radar installation had been targeted and destroyed. There was no immediate comment from Washington or Manama, which hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.S1S3

The claim arrives during a fragile lull in a conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and has since spread across the region. Iran launched missile and drone attacks on US bases in Gulf states and sought to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil and gas supplies. Washington has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, and US Central Command says its forces are still strictly enforcing it.S1S3

US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to return to war if a diplomatic track offered by Qatar fails to deliver a deal, and in an interview with the Salem News Channel he said he would act "without hesitation" against threats to US allies and vessels. Trump also claimed Iran's inflation had reached 301% and its military had been wiped out. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, by contrast, has said economic pressure is working well enough that resuming large-scale operations is unnecessary.S1S3

Israel's security cabinet has reportedly ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, according to Israeli media including KAN. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei has warned that if the US launches another war, every military base involved, from West Asia to Europe, would be a legitimate target. Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Al Jazeera that the Strait of Hormuz would never return to its pre-war state and that "the ball is now in the American court".S1S3