Iran’s retaliation for the latest U.S. strike wave has widened beyond Jordan, with Bahrain saying it intercepted Iranian drones and Iran claiming attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq that neither Washington nor Baghdad has confirmed.
The new angle is the wider regional spread. List25 already covered the first reports of Iran firing back after U.S. strikes and Jordan intercepting incoming missiles. The latest reporting adds Bahrain’s confirmed air-defense response and Iran’s unconfirmed claims of missile and drone attacks on U.S. facilities in Erbil, Iraq.
Reuters, carried by Internazionale, reported that the United States and Iran were back on a war footing Wednesday after the most significant exchange in weeks. U.S. Central Command said it had completed strikes on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.
Reuters reported that Iran said it struck U.S. assets in Jordan and Iraq, while Iranian media also reported an attack on Bahrain. Jordan said its air defenses handled 13 ballistic missiles, intercepting 10, with three falling in remote areas. Two U.S. officials told Reuters there had been no U.S. casualties in Jordan based on initial assessments.
Bahrain Says Drones Were Destroyed
The Bahrain development matters because it pushes the retaliation beyond the Jordanian missile incident and into another Gulf state that hosts U.S. military personnel. Reuters reported that Bahrain said Iranian drones were intercepted and destroyed.
CBS News also reported that Iranian semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies said Iran’s armed forces targeted a military base in Bahrain with drones. CBS said Bahrain’s state news agency later confirmed that Iranian drones had been intercepted.
Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed a heavy ballistic missile attack on Prince Hassan airbase and a U.S. Marine base in Jordan. The outlet framed the retaliation as a response to U.S. attacks that Tehran says killed civilians.
Iran Claims Erbil Attack, But Confirmation Is Missing
The Iraq claim is more uncertain. Reuters reported that the IRGC said its ground forces carried out combined missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Erbil, in northern Iraq, and claimed several U.S. personnel were killed. Reuters also reported that neither Iraq nor the United States had confirmed the attack.
The Jerusalem Post reported similar Iranian claims about Erbil, including alleged damage to technical facilities and surveillance infrastructure, while also noting that neither the United States nor Iraq had confirmed those claims.
That distinction is critical. Iran’s statements are being used to project a broad regional response, but the confirmed public record is narrower: Jordan reported intercepting missiles, Bahrain reported intercepting drones, and U.S. officials initially reported no casualties in Jordan.
Why The Wider Retaliation Matters
The exchange deepens the risk for Gulf states caught between U.S. military operations and Iranian retaliation. Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait all sit inside the broader map of U.S. regional basing, air defense and logistics. Even intercepted attacks can force alerts, disrupt aviation and raise the possibility of miscalculation.
The latest fighting also keeps the Strait of Hormuz at the center of the crisis. Reuters reported that many of the U.S. strikes were near the waterway, where Iran has threatened oil tankers moving without authorization. CENTCOM tied its operation to alleged Iranian threats against commercial shipping and U.S. service members.
For now, the clearest confirmed update is that Iran’s retaliation has expanded from missile fire over Jordan to drone activity over Bahrain, while Tehran is also claiming attacks in Iraq that remain unverified. That makes the crisis broader, but not all claims are equally established.
Sources: Reuters via Internazionale, CBS News, Al Jazeera, The Jerusalem Post.
Featured image: Ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz during regional maritime tensions.