Iran fires drones at Bahrain, oil tanker hit in Hormuz as clashes test deal

IRGC says it targeted ‘US terrorist army’ in response to overnight strikes following Iranian attack on ship that tried to leave strait; Bahrain: Iran ‘sabotaging peace efforts’

Iran fired drones at Bahrain on Saturday in an apparent response to overnight airstrikes by the US, shaking uneasy efforts for a US-Iran peace deal.

A ship also came under attack in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, and security sources told Reuters an explosive drone targeted a recently evacuated camp belonging to an Iranian Kurdish opposition group north of Iraq’s Erbil. No casualties were reported in either incident.

Meanwhile, a multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — likely setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran.

The US had on Friday said it struck military storage and radar sites in Iran in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship trying to get out of the strategic waterway on Thursday.

The attacks were the first known exchange of fire between the US and Iran since the two countries last week reached a memorandum of understanding to hammer out a final deal within 60 days.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the US military’s “brutal attacks, which targeted Iranian coastal surveillance facilities, are a blatant violation” of the interim agreement, which calls for a halt to all regional hostilities.

In a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency on Saturday, following the US strikes, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted several unspecified locations “of the US terrorist army in the region.”

Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, later said “several Iranian drones” targeted the Gulf state in “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.”

The Iranian attacks were “sabotaging peace efforts,” Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said.

Threat to ships in Hormuz still ‘substantial,’ says US Navy agency

Separately, the British military’s Maritime Trade Operations center said an oil tanker was struck and damaged by an “unidentified projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

“The vessel sustained damage to their bridge; all crew are reported safe,” UKMTO said. Another British marine security firm, Vanguard Tech, identified the vessel as the Panama-flagged tanker KIKU.

Just after the report of the ship attack, the Joint Maritime Information Center, overseen by the US Navy, said the route near Oman’s shores is expanding to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic.

In its announcement, the Joint Maritime Information Center warned that the threat to ships in the region was “substantial.”

“Mariners are advised of the existence of mines and should expect a naval presence as clearance operations continue,” it said.

Iran has insisted ships must obey its orders and is warning it will start charging fees for transit through the strait, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed. However, ships have been increasingly trying to leave the Gulf in recent days, to Iran’s ire.

On Friday evening, US Vice President JD Vance said on social media that Iran should “pick up the phone” if there are disagreements about the ceasefire agreement.

“But violence will be met with violence,” Vance said.

Iran imposed a blockade in the strait soon after the US and Israel, on February 28, launched a bombing campaign on the Islamic Republic in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The blockade has triggered a global spike in energy prices.

The fighting entered a truce on April 8. Israel is not a party to the agreement or negotiations between the US and Iran, and Israeli officials have criticized the memorandum of understanding for its lack of a concrete concession from Iran on its nuclear program.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.