Iran claimed on Friday that it destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain in retaliation for an attack on a telecommunications tower in southern Iran, hours after President Trump said no deal with Tehran was needed.
The US Central Command denied the claim, saying the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and both were shot down by US forces with no injuries or damage. The IRGC said its attack responded to an enemy air aggression against a telecommunications tower in Sirik, a port city in Hormozgan Province on the Strait of Hormuz coast.
The exchange followed Trump's post on Truth Social on Thursday. He wrote: "We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" Trump also said he had asked Vice President JD Vance to focus on corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states.
Vance had led US negotiations with Iran in April in Islamabad and in Switzerland, and favors a deal, which Trump believes is not possible. On November 4, Vance publicly questioned whether the war was worth the political costs after Republicans lost Congress in midterm elections, writing that "The reason we lost is the war." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington's economic pressure campaign against Iran is proving effective, so a resumption of large-scale military operations is unnecessary.
Tensions remain high around the Strait of Hormuz. On November 12, Iran's army said two oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines in the eastern part of the strait, saying the vessels had entered a "prohibited and unsafe zone." Several commercial vessels have hit mines or been struck by the Iranian military over the past week, though Trump continues to claim Washington controls the waterway. Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has insisted that Washington accept Tehran's demands before negotiations can resume or the Strait of Hormuz reopen.
Trump warned that Iran "will not exist very long any longer" if it killed a senior US official. Reports said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had moved to a military base due to Iranian threats. The war began on February 28 and Sirik, which hosts part of Iran's radar network monitoring the waterway, has been hit repeatedly since the conflict began.
