IRGC’s Aerospace Force strikes an American early-warning radar in retaliation for an attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, as Iran downs a U.S. Predator drone and reports more tankers and a gas carrier ablaze after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

TEHRAN -- The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced Friday that its Aerospace Force destroyed a U.S. military early-warning radar in Bahrain in a precision strike, retaliation for an aerial attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik.

Iranian forces simultaneously downed a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone and disabled another vessel in the Strait of Hormuz—a coordinated display of force across air, sea and missile domains on a single day.

In a statement, the IRGC said the operation was carried out in direct response to an aerial aggression by the enemy against a telecommunications tower in Sirik. The radar belonged to the “terrorist U.S. military” and the “aggressor American forces,” the statement said.

Addressing the Iranian people, the IRGC described eight months of steadfast resistance against “oppression and global arrogance” as a historic epic that has awakened nations and drawn the youth of many countries into the arena.

It said the “zealous sons” of the Islamic Republic, relying on God Almighty and emboldened by popular support, continue to achieve success on the battlefield.

The IRGC called the Bahrain strike “a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to cease its aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Should violations and acts of aggression recur, the Aerospace Force “stands in full readiness to engage without limits,” it said, warning that offending companies “that allow themselves to be deceived by the aggressor enemy will face even more severe punitive measures.” 

Separately, Iran’s Army Navy said it shot down a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone near the coastal area of Kuhestak in southern Hormozgan Province.

The drone was intercepted and destroyed by an air defense system operating under Iran’s integrated air defense network along the coast of Sirik, east of the Strait of Hormuz, after being successfully tracked.

“We will not hesitate for a moment in safeguarding and defending the territorial integrity, maritime borders, and interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Navy said.

The MQ-1 Predator, developed by General Atomics and operated primarily by the U.S. Air Force, was retired from the American fleet in 2018 in favor of the MQ-9 Reaper. Iranian officials say Washington has been forced to return to the older platform after Iran’s armed forces inflicted significant losses on the MQ-9 fleet.

In a separate statement Friday, the IRGC Navy said an LPG carrier traveling along an unauthorized route suffered a massive explosion after striking a naval mine east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The carrier ignored repeated warnings and failed to “learn from the fate of previously destroyed oil tankers,” the statement said, adding that naval mines do not coordinate with “the U.S. army of smugglers and aggressors when hunting their targets.”

The IRGC reiterated that any vessel violating Iranian sovereignty over the strait and ignoring warnings from its traffic control center would “meet the same fate as previous vessels.”

In a statement Thursday, the IRGC Navy said two supertankers carrying a combined cargo of more than 4 million barrels of oil suffered massive explosions and stopped sailing after transiting the unauthorized southern route, ignoring repeated warnings from the Strait of Hormuz traffic control center regarding its unsafe nature.

Footage released by the IRGC showed the vessels burning after reportedly striking sea mines.

“Any vessel in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz that switches off its navigation systems and cooperates with the U.S. smuggling army in transiting the unauthorized southern route through the Strait of Hormuz will meet a similar fate,” the IRGC said.

In a separate statement Thursday, the Army Navy said two more oil tankers caught fire after striking a naval mine in the prohibited and unsafe area east of the Strait of Hormuz. The vessels had disregarded warnings and switched off their radar systems.

The Army Navy stressed that responsibility rests “first and foremost with the lying president of the United States,” followed by the vessels’ owners “who trust his false propaganda.”

IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General Ahmad Vahidi warned Friday at the funeral ceremony for 110 unidentified martyrs in Tehran that “the slightest aggression will be answered with devastating and painful strikes”.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Ali Abdollahi said Wednesday that “any point that constitutes a center of threat against the very existence of the Islamic Republic system will be directly targeted by asymmetric operations”.