A dramatic and dangerous military escalation unfolded on Saturday, February 28, 2026, as Iran launched ballistic missiles targeting the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain — a direct retaliation for a joint U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iranian nuclear and military sites earlier that day.

The Strike and Its Immediate Aftermath
Iranian forces fired ballistic missiles at the Juffair district of Manama, Bahrain, where the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters is located. Thick clouds of dark smoke billowed into the sky following the explosion, captured on video from a vehicle near the base, showing shrapnel dispersing in multiple directions. The extent of structural damage to the naval facility remained unclear in the immediate aftermath, with no official U.S. statement initially issued. Bahrain’s state news agency confirmed that several missiles had entered its airspace, with some successfully intercepted.

Operation “Truthful Promise 4” — Iran’s Retaliatory Campaign
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for the attack, formally naming it “Operation Truthful Promise 4” — a direct response to the U.S.-Israeli offensive dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” which targeted Iranian nuclear facilities and military installations. Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated the country would “defend the homeland” without hesitation and would strike any regional partner hosting U.S. forces. Iranian semi-official media outlets, including Tasnim and Fars News, described the strikes as intentional targeting of American military assets across the Middle East.

A Region-Wide Escalation
The Bahrain strike was not an isolated incident — it was part of a sweeping Iranian retaliatory campaign across the Gulf. Explosions were reported in Kuwait, Abu Dhabi (UAE), and Saudi Arabia, while air-raid sirens blared across multiple countries. Two Iranian missiles were intercepted over Qatar, and reports emerged of strikes targeting Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base and Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base. Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE partially or fully closed their airspace to civilian traffic as a precaution. The U.S. had preemptively reduced staffing at the Bahrain base and withdrawn naval vessels in anticipation of a possible Iranian counter-strike.

Iranian ballistic missile struck US naval base in Bahrain.pic.twitter.com/r3cdcgcIzm

— SSBCrack (@SSBCrack) February 28, 2026

Strategic Significance of the Fifth Fleet
The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, oversees all American naval operations in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea — making it one of the most strategically vital American military installations in the world. A direct strike on the Fifth Fleet headquarters represents an unprecedented escalation, crossing a threshold that previous Iranian retaliatory operations — including the 2025 strikes on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — had not reached. The attack signals Tehran’s willingness to directly confront American military infrastructure rather than relying solely on proxy forces or symbolic strikes.

This confrontation marks one of the most serious direct military clashes between Iranian and American forces in decades. While both sides appear to have taken some measures to limit casualties — the U.S. reducing base personnel in advance, and Iran targeting the perimeter rather than striking deep within the facility — the crossing of the threshold of a direct attack on a U.S. military headquarters fundamentally changes the calculus in the region. With Iran vowing a response “without red lines” and Washington engaged in active combat operations inside Iranian territory, the risk of runaway escalation is acute. Regional allies, particularly Gulf Arab states that host U.S. forces, now find themselves caught between their security alliances and the very real danger of becoming frontlines in an Iran-U.S. war they did not choose.