Iran attacks Bahrain in 'blatant challenge' to peace push

Bahrain was attacked by Iranian drones on Sunday, with emergency alerts sounding for the first time in months and sparking new fears of a return to war.

The Bahraini military said it intercepted “several Iranian aerial attacks” early on Sunday. The alert was issued before 5am and urged people to find a “safe location”.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attack. The IRGC said its Aerospace Force had fired six drones at a US air defence radar in Bahrain.

It claimed the attack on the Riffa airbase had a “precise and successful impact”. The Bahraini military, however, said the drones had been destroyed before reaching their targets,

Bahrain's neighbours condemned the attack. Jasem Al Budaiwi, the head of the Gulf Co-operation Council, called it a “blatant challenge” to regional peace efforts. Iran's “persistence in repeating its assaults” was a “direct threat” to the region, he said.

Qatar, one of the main countries acting as a mediator between the US and Iran, said the attacks were a “dangerous escalation”. It said they could “undermine political and diplomatic efforts” to restore stability in the Middle East.

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It was the second time in a week that Iran claimed an attack on Bahrain, ending a lull in strikes across the Gulf.

The IRGC similarly claimed on Friday to have destroyed a US early warning radar in Bahrain, although US Central Command said it had intercepted the two drones launched by Iran.

The latest developments come as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, which began with US and Israeli strikes in February, have yet to produce a breakthrough. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Muscat on Tuesday for talks with his Omani counterpart.

Fears that the US and Israel would begin a major new assault on Iran after their respective autumn elections have yet to come to pass. However, US President Donald Trump unsettled markets last week by saying no deal with Iran was needed.

The result of the inconclusive talks is a standoff in which shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily curtailed. The IRGC's naval forces claimed on Sunday that one oil tanker had sunk and a second been damaged after hitting sea mines in the strait.

It said the tankers had suffered a “massive explosion” after switching off their tracking systems. There was no independent verification of the claims, which have become frequent in recent weeks as Iran steps up threats to shipping.

Most Gulf bourses closed lower on Sunday. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.7 per cent. In Qatar, the index retreated 1.8 per cent.

Iran fired thousands of drones and missiles at US allies in the region including the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait during the war’s opening phase. The unprecedented attacks have pushed Gulf countries towards closer military co-operation. GCC defence ministers last week approved a new joint command centre in Kuwait.

An initial US-Iran agreement in June had opened a 60-day window for talks on resolving the conflict, but the deadline expired with no deal. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday said the path to ending the conflict is open if the US accepts Iran’s “logical conditions,” according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Mr Ghalibaf, a senior Iranian negotiator in talks with the US, added Tehran will not remain in a state of “neither war nor peace” and warned that its armed forces will “determine the geography of battle” if Washington resumes strikes.

Show caption: A Houthi fighter mans a machine gun mounted on a pickup truc…

Yemen developments

Developments in the war in Yemen added to the regional concern on Sunday. Two drones launched by the Houthi militia were destroyed by Saudi air defences over the Makkah region, a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said.

Forces allied with Yemen's internationally recognised government meanwhile said they were withdrawing from an area overlooking the Bab Al Mandeb strait.

The Southern Armed Forces’ withdrawal from the Bab Al Mandeb strait area could the Houthis greater control over the sea lane, which had been used as an alternative route for oil exports while the Strait of Hormuz was blocked.

The forces said the “redeployment” was being made due to the “priority of securing the capital, Aden, and the neighbouring governorates” during the civil war, which returned to open fighting this summer.

They said the withdrawal would also support efforts to break the Houthi siege on Taiz city, which has caused major humanitarian concerns.