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The U.S. military said it intercepted two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, as the Revolutionary Guard claimed it struck a U.S. early warning radar system in the kingdom. The Guard also said a tanker struck a naval mine while attempting to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, causing an explosion.
Neither Iran’s claim of striking the radar nor its account of the tanker incident could be independently verified.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Read our full coverage here.
US says Iranian drones intercepted after Iran claims strike on US radar in Bahrain
The U.S. military said Friday it shot down two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, denying Iran’s claim that it had struck a U.S. radar system in the kingdom. CENTCOM, the U.S. command center covering the region, said there were no injuries or damage.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted a statement by the Revolutionary Guard as saying the attack on the radar system followed a U.S. strike on a telecommunications pole in the southern Iranian port of Sirik.
Bahrain has been one of the strongest critics of Iran and is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
The statement said the attack on the radar was a serious warning to the U.S. to cease its strikes. It was Iran’s first report of targeting a facility in Bahrain since September.
During an air war that began in February, Iran targeted U.S. bases in neighboring Arab nations including Bahrain in retaliation for U.S. strikes. Since then, Iran routinely targets oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for international oil shipments.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Information did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iran says a tanker struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Friday that a liquefied petroleum gas tanker struck a mine, causing an explosion, while trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The Guard said the vessel ignored repeated warnings while transiting the eastern part of the strait. The claim could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate report of the incident from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military agency that monitors incidents at sea.
Iran continues to warn ships not to pass through the strategic shipping lane without its approval.
Iranians mourn 350 unidentified soldiers from Iran-Iraq war
More than 38 years after the Iran-Iraq war ended, the remains of hundreds of unidentified soldiers were carried through Iranian cities Friday in one of the largest such funerals in recent years.
In Tehran, thousands joined a procession for the remains of 110 soldiers. Funerals for another 240 were held in other cities.
Trucks carrying flag-draped coffins passed near Tehran University as mourners dressed in black crowded around them, many weeping. President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior officials, including acting Revolutionary Guard chief Gen. Mostafa Izadi, attended the event.
“Against the enemies, we are continuing the same as our martyrs did during the Iran-Iraq war,” Izadi told reporters.
Baby boy who died from hypothermia raises worries about the winter ahead in Gaza
A 9-month-old infant in Gaza died from hypothermia, becoming the first reported cold-related death of the winter season, health officials said Friday.
Doctors at Nasser Hospital pronounced Kanan Ahmed Arqiq dead on Thursday after a severe drop in his body temperature. Family members said the tent he was living in was flooded by rains earlier this week and provided little protection from the cold.
“Their tent was torn, worn out. Their clothes, mattresses, blankets, everything was soaked with rainwater,” said Ali Abou Moussa, the boy’s grandfather.
Outside the hospital, Ahmed Arqiq, the infant’s father, held up his tiny body and a certificate attributing his death to severe cold.
The majority of Gaza’s roughly 2 million people live in tents and makeshift shelters, after Israel’s military campaign destroyed or damaged most buildings. Humanitarian groups have warned that more people are at risk of cold-related deaths and illnesses without a surge of winter supplies.
Last winter, 10 Palestinians died due to complications from the cold, which can heighten the risk of respiratory illness, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
The United Nations and other aid agencies have accused Israel of blocking the entry of needed aid, including shelter and winter supplies.
COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian aid in the territory, says it has allowed thousands of trucks carrying aid, including tents and winter supplies, into Gaza.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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