IRGC Says It Struck US Radar Installation In Bahrain, Pentagon Denies

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announce Friday a military operation which consitutes a rare instance of offensive action against US forces in the region.Iran struck a US early-warning radar in Bahrain, which the IRGC charactersized as retaliation for recent American attacks on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, southern Iran.image source: NASABut the Pentagon is denying that the radar station was hit, amid an ongoing fog of war situation.According to Reuters, the US "denied Iran's claim on ​Friday to have attacked a US ‌early-warning radar in Bahrain, saying its forces had shot down two one-way attack drones ​launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard ​Corps toward Bahrain with no harm ⁠caused."Amid the he said, she said - what's clear is that a low-boiling tit-for-tat war has been ongoing on the Hormuz area as well as along Iran's southern coast for several weeks.It is not just Bahrain being targeted, but as we detailed earlier this week, Iran has taken its fight over the Strait of Hormuz onto Omani soil too: the Revolutionary Guard's navy struck navigation, radar and radio equipment on Oman's Didamar Island, which helps steer tankers through the strait's southern shipping lane, the corridor Tehran says ships may not use without its permission.Iranian state media said Tuesday that the IRGC destroyed "enemy navigation systems" on the island, and state television claimed the personnel and equipment there were "helping the flow of oil smuggling by the enemy." On Wednesday, three sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed the attack to Reuters, which also confirmed video of smoke rising from the island, though none of the sources could say how much was destroyed.These attacks, which have been coming more frequently, have been hard to independently confirm, also given that official sources in the Gulf region have tended to no acknowledge them.If President Trump actually opts for another big bombing campaign, the Iranian coast and islands are expected to be heavily attacked - also given these are connected with Iran's energy export infastructure, as well as host coastal defense assets.