Tehran/Dubai: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed responsibility for strikes using drones and missiles on what it said were several US targets, including the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, a regional airbase and helicopters, Iranian state-linked media reported.
The IRGC said the action was in retaliation for what it described as a US attack on a communications tower south of Qeshm Island.
The IRGC also said its navy fired missiles at a vessel named Panaya in response to a US strike on an Iranian tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, which the IRGC said had been hit by a projectile that damaged the ship’s engine room.
“Disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the US military,” the IRGC told local media, according to state-affiliated reporting.
CENTCOM Rejects Iranian Claims
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has flatly rejected the IRGC’s claims that Iran struck the US Fifth Fleet headquarters at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain. Posting on X, CENTCOM said the reports were “FALSE,” and stated that all incoming threats had been intercepted or neutralized and that no US facilities had been struck.
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims they struck U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and a U.S. air base in the region with missiles and drones today. FALSE,” CENTCOM wrote on X. “TRUTH: All Iranian attacks on American forces failed. U.S. forces remain vigilant and ready to defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression,” it added.
US Says It Disabled Tanker
Meanwhile, CENTCOM said US forces struck and “disabled an unladen oil tanker” bound for Iran as part of Washington’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the BBC reported. CENTCOM said a US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie after the ship’s crew “ignored repeated warnings.”
The US began enforcing the blockade on April 12, with CENTCOM saying it was enforcing measures “against Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie as it transited international waters toward Kharg Island.” CENTCOM added that the ship’s crew had failed “to comply with directions from US forces multiple times over a 24-hour period.”
Since the blockade began, CENTCOM says six commercial vessels have been disabled and another 122 redirected.
No independent Verification
There was no immediate independent verification of the IRGC’s account. Reporting by Iranian state-linked outlets carried the IRGC statements; CENTCOM’s denials and the account of the Lexie strike were reported by the U.S. military and by international outlets including the BBC. Regional security sources and commercial shipping operators have reported heightened disruptions in shipping since the blockade was imposed.
Kuwait Suspends Flights
Drone and missile strikes hit the T1 terminal at Kuwait International Airport, causing “significant material damage” and injuring several people, the military said. The General Civil Aviation Authority has suspended flights and is diverting incoming services to alternative airports, the Kuwait News Agency reported. Emergency teams are assessing damage.
Two Tankers Move Through Hormuz
Shipping data show limited traffic through the Strait of Hormuz despite stricter controls linked to the US–Israel campaign against Iran. Reuters says two oil tankers exited the waterway and an LNG carrier loaded cargo in the United Arab Emirates, marking rare commercial movements amid the blockade.
