WASHINGTON – The US military on Friday rejected reports that it is preparing for a possible resumption of military operations against Iran.
The US military described the claims of changes to its deployment and force arrangements in the Middle East as baseless speculation.
A US Central Command (CENTCOM) official told Anadolu that there had been no changes to the American military’s force posture in the region.
The clarification came after Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that CENTCOM had advised Israel to remain prepared for a possible return to military confrontation with Iran in the coming weeks. The warning was reportedly communicated to Israeli military officials during discussions in the United States.
According to the broadcaster, Washington had also passed similar messages to Gulf countries through security channels.
The report further alleged that the US had positioned approximately 200 aerial refuelling aircraft across the Middle East and Europe. It also claimed that two American aircraft carriers, the USS George Washington and USS George H.W. Bush, were already operating in the region, while a third carrier, the USS Roosevelt, was expected to reach the Arabian Sea the following week.
Iran claims strike on US radar facility in Bahrain
Separately, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Friday that it had attacked a US early-warning radar installation in Bahrain, marking what it described as its first such strike against American military infrastructure in a Gulf country since early September.
Iranian state media quoted the Guards as saying the operation was carried out in retaliation for an alleged airstrike on a telecommunications tower in Sirik county, located in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.
The claim emerged amid a fragile pause in hostilities between Iran and the United States, following the conflict triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets on February 28.
The confrontation subsequently expanded across the region, with Iran launching missile and drone attacks against American military installations in Gulf countries and taking measures to restrict maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage for international oil and gas shipments.
In response, Washington imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Neither the US government nor Bahraini authorities had issued an immediate response to the Iranian Guards’ latest claim.
