Iran targets Bahrain base but says path to US deal is open

Arsalan Shahla and Sara Gharaibeh, Bloomberg News on Nov 15, 2026

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Iran targeted an air base in Bahrain in the first direct strike on the Gulf state in weeks, even as it reiterated that a path to ending the conflict with the U.S. remains open.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Sunday it launched six drones at the Riffa helicopter base, describing the move as a response to “blatant aggression of the U.S. military.” Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks and destroyed the projectiles, even as the IRGC reported “successful impact.”

The targeting of Bahrain is the first since early September, when Iranian drones also sought to hit a U.S. base in the United Arab Emirates. Tensions are still riding high over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, even as U.S. President Donald Trump indicated he was considering holding off on attacking Iran absent new provocations, according to a Reuters report.

Iran’s state-run IRIB News on Sunday reported two oil tankers traveling an unauthorized southern route through the Strait of Hormuz had struck naval mines. Citing an IRGC Navy statement, the outlet didn’t name the vessels but described one as a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil.

Iranian state TV said five vessels had struck mines and caught fire in the past 48 hours, without identifying them. U.K. Maritime Trade Operations said Indian shipping authorities had reported an attack on a tanker in the Persian Gulf and the crew were safe although the extent of the damage was unknown.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday said the path to ending the conflict, now in its ninth month, is open if the U.S. accepts Iran’s “logical conditions,” according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Ghalibaf, a senior Iranian negotiator in talks with the U.S., added Tehran won’t remain in a state of “neither war nor peace” and warned its armed forces would “determine the geography of battle” if Washington resumes strikes.

Separately, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry ruled out curbs on nuclear enrichment as a path to reaching a deal with the U.S. “We are not at that stage at all, and we have not had, and do not, have any discussions regarding nuclear details,” Esmail Baghaei said during a televised press conference.

Iran has fired thousands of drones and missiles at American allies in the region including the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman and Iraq since the U.S. and Israel began strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.

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