Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced a new operation against US forces, claiming to have completely destroyed a US radar system and an air defense system in Al-Muharraq, Bahrain, and a Patriot air defense system in Al-Rafae, Saudi Arabia, using missiles and drones. The IRGC said the operation was in retaliation for recent US strikes on Iran and for what it called harm to the security of the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed that further operations would follow.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) escalated its claims on Tuesday, announcing a new operation that it said destroyed US radar and air defense systems in Al-Muharraq, Bahrain, and a Patriot air defense system in Al-Rafae, Saudi Arabia, using missiles and drones. The claim adds a Saudi Arabian target to the IRGC’s earlier assertions, which, as The Zioneer reported on Monday, July 20 at 16:28 Jerusalem time, had focused exclusively on Bahrain. The IRGC described the operation as retaliation for recent US airstrikes on Iran and for what it termed a violation of the security of the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed further strikes.
On Monday, July 20, The Zioneer published a series of updates tracking the IRGC’s evolving claims. The initial report, at 16:28 Jerusalem, cited the Iranian state news agency Fars claiming strikes on three sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. Within the same hour, the IRGC specifically claimed a strike on a US Patriot system in Bahrain, citing Israeli news outlet N12 as the source. The claims then expanded to include radar systems alongside Patriot batteries, and ultimately to cover US air defense and radar systems in Bahrain. Throughout the thread, the claims remained unverified by independent sources, and US officials had not commented.
As The Zioneer reported on June 10, the US launched retaliatory strikes across southern Iran following the downing of a US helicopter. The IRGC’s latest operation is framed as a direct response to those strikes, and follows what the IRGC had previously described as the ‘first phase’ of retaliation — a strike on Prince Hassan base in Jordan, reported by The Zioneer on July 12. The broader context includes heightened regional tensions, with air defense systems activated in Tehran on June 11, as The Zioneer also reported.
The claims remain unverified. No independent confirmation has emerged from US Central Command, the Bahraini or Saudi authorities, or any other third-party source. The IRGC’s assertion that it destroyed a Patriot system in Saudi Arabia — a target outside the earlier Bahrain-focused claims — has not been corroborated, and the operational status of the alleged systems is unknown.
5 developments
- DevelopingIRGC says it destroyed US Patriot radar and Navy equipment in Bahrain overnight
- StrongIRGC Claims to Have Destroyed US Radar, MQ-9 Drone Equipment at Ali al-Salem Base in Kuwait
- StrongIran's army and Revolutionary Guard claim strikes on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar
- StrongIRGC claims it struck five military bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain
Source and signal
- Internal intake