The Israel–Iran war has ripped straight into the heart of the US military’s Gulf footprint after Iran launched a surprise strike on the US Navy base in Bahrain’s Al Juffair district, home to the Fifth Fleet.

Shortly after midnight, residents of Manama reported deafening blasts and sirens as air‑defense systems around the base fired at what US officials say was a mixed salvo of ballistic missiles and one‑way attack drones launched from Iranian territory. Fireballs were seen over the harbor as interceptors detonated incoming threats, but at least one projectile appears to have impacted inside or near the base perimeter.

Preliminary Pentagon statements confirm “multiple injuries and structural damage”, without releasing casualty figures. Imagery from the waterfront shows smoke billowing from the vicinity of dock facilities and support buildings, as emergency crews race in under heavy security. Naval assets across the region have been ordered to high alert, and non‑essential personnel in Bahrain are being moved to hardened shelters.

Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard has claimed responsibility, calling the strike a “direct response to American participation in Zionist aggression against Iran.” Washington has vowed that any attack on US forces will trigger a “swift and decisive response at a time and place of our choosing,” raising fears that the conflict is lurching from limited strikes into a full‑scale regional war with American troops now openly in the crosshairs.