The Pentagon on Monday rebuffed claims made in foreign media about a missile attack on Bahrain.
U.S. Central Command said Iranian and Russian media were accusing Washington of striking a civilian area in Bahrain.
“LIE,” the Pentagon responded. CENTCOM indicated that the “TRUTH” reflected statements made by Bahrain’s Ministry of Health, which blamed Iran for a missile strike that killed 32 people.
“What really happened: An Iranian drone struck a residential neighborhood, injuring 32 civilians in Bahrain, including children who required medical treatment, according to Bahrain’s government. TRUTH,” CENTCOM wrote in a post to X.
The claim that a U.S. Patriot air defense missile struck residential buildings in Manama while attempting to intercept an Iranian drone attack was circulated by Turkish state media, as well as Pakistani, Indian, and pro-Iranian media, among others. The Pentagon’s move to shoot down the rumors swiftly comes after it has been faced with accusations that the United States was behind a missile attack that unintentionally impacted an Iranian school.
Bahrain is home to a major U.S. military installation, serving as the headquarters for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. Situated in the Persian Gulf, the tiny archipelago has been among several countries in the Middle Eastern region to bear the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory attacks, responding to the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28.
Seven U.S. service members have been killed during the war, including six in Kuwait and one in Saudi Arabia. Washington started the conflict, alongside Israel, after multiple rounds of peace talks with Iran aimed at resolving concerns about the regime’s nuclear weapons program ended without a breakthrough.
The U.S. and Israel decided to strike Tehran after being told by Iranian leadership that it had enough enriched uranium to make 11 nuclear bombs within a week to 10 days, according to President Donald Trump’s team. The White House says “Operation Epic Fury” is currently limited in scope, but Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) and others have warned that accomplishing the U.S. objective of eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat would likely require a ground invasion, dragging the timeline out.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Sunday evening reiterated that the U.S. “reserves the right” to put U.S. troops in Iran.
“We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground,” the Pentagon chief told CBS News.
