Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced what it describes as “a resumption of Iran’s aggression” after the latest air attacks on its Riffa Air Base by Tehran.
In a statement, the ministry said the attacks on Sunday launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) violated international law and “no pretext can legitimise violations of state sovereignty”.
“Bahrain also rejects the use of its territory to settle accounts and holds Iran fully responsible for the attacks and their consequences,” the statement added.
Bahrain’s military said its defence systems intercepted several Iranian “aerial attacks” targeting the kingdom. Its Riffa Air Base is used by the United States military.
The IRGC has not commented. It had said on Friday that it launched an attack on a US early warning radar facility in Bahrain and destroyed it. Bahrain said it intercepted two drones that day.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, noted that Iran had held back amid intermittent US attacks in the past weeks but in the past three days, it has fired twice at Bahrain.
“We were seeing the United States’s low-intensity warfare being conducted against Iran. From time to time, the US attacked Iran’s military assets – telecommunications towers specifically – in the southern part of the country,” he said.
But that appears to have changed. “It seems this is now the new rule of engagement,” Serdar added.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei defended Tehran’s attacks and accused Gulf countries of aiding US strikes against Iran.
“All the cases that indicate the role of the countries of the region in helping the US to attack Iran have been documented,” Baghaei said at a news conference on Sunday, adding that Tehran was taking diplomatic action and would “follow up on this issue seriously”.
He said missiles, drones and aircraft launched from military bases in neighbouring countries as well as logistical support provided to US forces were proof of these nations’ involvement.
“The responsibility of this group of countries in the region for the consequences … of the military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran is clear,” Baghaei charged, referring to Israel.
Attacks on its neighbours, he said, were justified under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter , which established the rights of states to defend themselves from attacks.
“No action has been taken by Iran against the sovereignty of these countries,” Baghaei said, arguing that Tehran’s attacks are “purely defensive in nature” and have targeted only US military bases and assets used to attack Iran.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a post on X that it “condemned Iran’s brutal attacks on the sister kingdom of Bahrain as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, a threat to its security, stability and territorial integrity”.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country “reiterates its categorical rejection” of attacks threatening the region’s stability.
“The security of Bahrain and the Gulf states is closely linked to Egyptian national security and is one of the pillars of Arab national security,” the statement added.
