According to reports on July 21, an explosion occurred at the US Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, as stated by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. Alarms were triggered in the capital Manama, and residents were urged to stay in shelters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told Fars News Agency that drones targeted crucial facilities of the US Navy Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. They emphasized that military operations will continue “until the enemy no longer has the courage to attack our nation.”
The US Navy Fifth Fleet, one of the six major US naval fleets, serves as America’s most powerful maritime force in the Middle East. Its area of responsibility spans the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and extends to the Indian Ocean off Kenya’s coast. The headquarters is based in Bahrain.
On the 21st, the Revolutionary Guard issued multiple statements. They claimed attacks on US radar, communication, satellite, and missile defense systems at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
In separate statements, the Revolutionary Guard reported missile strikes on a US base in Jordan, destroying a missile defense radar system and damaging an F-15 fighter jet inside a bunker. Another attack on a US base in Jordan reportedly resulted in several American soldier casualties.
An unnamed Iranian military source told Iran’s Fars News Agency that Iran will maintain a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as long as the US continues its attacks.
The source stated that reopening the waterway or maintaining restrictions will be “based entirely on security considerations and national interests.” “As long as US threats and hostile actions persist, this situation will not change,” they added.
US Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed on July 20 that nearly 100 US military personnel have been injured in Iran-related operations over the past two weeks. US media suggest this figure highlights the intensity of Iranian strikes on American military installations this month.
An anonymous officer familiar with the situation told the Washington Post that since late February, Iran has deployed nearly 8,500 drones and missiles against targets across the Middle East, with about 100 breaching the air defense systems of the US and its regional allies.