West Asia war: Iran claims drone strike on US radar in Bahrain, Houthi missiles target Saudi capital

Explosions echoed across Bahrain on Sunday, triggering the kingdom’s first nationwide threat alert in months after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed a drone strike on a US military radar installation. Hours away, Saudi air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, marking a sharp escalation across the Gulf.

The IRGC launched six drones at a US air defence radar at Bahrain’s Al-Rifaa helicopter base, according to Iranian state-affiliated outlets Fars News Agency and Press TV. Tehran described the strike — which it framed as the second phase of retaliation against Washington — as a response to American “hostile” actions.

Washington has not yet confirmed the reported attacks on the base in Bahrain, which houses the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and serves as a central hub for American military operations in the region. Following the blasts, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry urged citizens and residents to remain calm, move to the nearest safe location, and monitor official channels, without specifying the nature of the threat or naming potential targets.

In Saudi Arabia, civil defence authorities issued an emergency alert in Riyadh before announcing the danger had passed. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis later confirmed it had intercepted two ballistic missiles aimed at the capital.

The latest strikes come two days after Gulf Arab states demanded full compensation from Iran for damage inflicted by thousands of missile and drone attacks since February, urging the UN Security Council to hold Tehran accountable and prevent further aggression.

Amid the military flare-up, Tehran and Washington traded blame over the roots of the conflict. In a lengthy post on X, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei accused the US of pushing a “deceptive narrative” to evade responsibility for its military actions against Iran.

His remarks followed claims by US President Donald Trump that Washington had not started the war, arguing instead that Tehran has waged war against America since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Baqaei rejected that framing, accusing the Trump administration of invoking 1979 while ignoring decades of American intervention in Iran.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Saturday to eliminate the threat posed by Iran “once and for all,” pointing to Tehran's efforts to rebuild its nuclear program. Speaking about forming a new government after meeting opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot on Thursday, Netanyahu said the talks underscored the urgency of a broad coalition.

"The Iranian regime, which seeks to destroy Israel, is once again working to revive its nuclear program," Netanyahu said, translated from Hebrew. "And let this be clear: This murderous regime, which did not hesitate to murder many thousands of its own people, will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us."

"It will do so the moment it manages to resume uranium enrichment and the accelerated development of nuclear weapons," he continued.

Netanyahu added that meeting with Eisenkot "only strengthened my understanding of how essential it is to establish a national unity government at this time." In last month’s Knesset election, Netanyahu’s Likud party and its allies secured 53 seats, falling short of the 61-seat majority required to form a government and keep him in office. Eisenkot’s Yashar party and its allies won 48 seats, while the Arab coalition took 19.