Iran Retaliates Against US Bases in the Gulf, MQ-9 Drone Shot Down

Iran’s military headquarters has announced that attacks were launched against a number of United States (US) military bases in the Gulf region on Wednesday (10/6) morning local time. Tehran stated that its attacks were in retaliation for the latest US strikes on southern parts of Iran. In a separate statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as reported by Anadolu Agency on Wednesday (10/6/2026), claimed its forces had shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone detected flying in Iranian airspace, specifically in the southern province of Bushehr. The IRGC also claimed to have launched a drone attack targeting the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain. The IRGC stated that its naval forces launched the drone attack against the US Fifth Fleet in the early hours of Wednesday (10/6), at around 02.30 local time. “Clashes are still ongoing,” the IRGC stated. In its statement, the IRGC also warned that “heavier and more extensive” attacks would follow if the US continued its aggression against Iran. Both the Iranian military headquarters, officially called the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, and the IRGC announced that their attacks were retaliation for the US strikes targeting areas in Jask, Sirik, and Qeshm in the southern part of the country. Tehran reported that the recent US strikes damaged a telecommunications tower in Sirik and destroyed two water tanks in the Bamani district area of Sirik city. The Iranian military and IRGC statements came after local Tehran media reported a barrage of explosions and projectile attacks in several areas of the southern Hormozgan Province. Iranian state television later reported that the situation in the area was now “almost calm”. This development occurred hours after US Central Command, or CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced that its forces had completed what they called a “self-defence” strike against Iran. In its announcement, CENTCOM said that US fighter jets struck Iranian air defence systems and radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz, in response to the shooting down of a US-operated Apache helicopter in a previous incident.