More Than 115 Alleged Strikes Hit U.S. Sites; Bahrain Targeting Could Not Be Verified
Key Facts
The account of a U.S. early-warning radar being targeted in Bahrain on November 13 could not be verified, although the alleged strike became the focus of the report. Available evidence did not confirm that the attack took place or attribute it to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It was also not possible to verify that the strike was in response to an attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, or that it was the first against U.S. military assets in a Gulf state since early September. These claims therefore cannot be presented as confirmed facts. The allegation comes against a record of previous attacks that Iran or groups it backs said they had carried out against sites housing U.S. equipment.
The Associated Press said Iran destroyed barriers protecting U.S. radar systems at the U.S. Naval Support Activity in Bahrain during the first two days of the war, which began in late February 2026. The incident also involved barriers protecting radar systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. This places Bahrain in a documented record of attacks on radar-related facilities at the start of the war. But it concerns an earlier incident in late February and does not establish that a new attack took place on November 13. The distinction between the earlier incident and the current claim is central to assessing whether the escalation again involved the same facility.
In its analysis, the Associated Press reported that Iran began its response to the war with precision attacks on systems designed to detect and thwart incoming strikes. The targets then expanded to include buildings and equipment at U.S. bases. The sequence explains how the attacks, according to the analysis, shifted from detection and defense systems to other facilities and equipment. It also gives the Bahrain radar claim significance within a broader pattern of targeting military infrastructure, but does not confirm the specific incident attributed to November 13. The reference to that pattern remains historical context, separate from proof that the new strike occurred.
According to a tally reported by the Associated Press, Iran or armed groups it backs said they had carried out more than 115 drone or missile attacks through August 2026. The attacks damaged or destroyed facilities at 26 military bases and other sites housing U.S. equipment. These figures cover the period through August and do not establish that the alleged Bahrain attack took place in November. They do, however, illustrate the breadth of the reported attacks and the number of sites damaged since the war began. They also highlight the difference between the number of attacks the parties said they carried out and the number of sites whose facilities were damaged or destroyed, according to the same tally.
In an earlier development related to the course of the war, Donald Trump said on November 9 that he saw