Bahrain says Iran targeted air navigation systems; flight operations unaffected

MANAMA — Iranian drones targeted Bahrain's civil air navigation systems on Monday, but flight operations were not affected, the kingdom's Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

The CAA said hostile drones struck civil air navigation equipment serving the Bahrain Flight Information Region (FIR) during an Iranian attack on the kingdom, describing it as a hostile act of aggression, while stressing that air navigation operations remained unaffected.

According to the statement, carried by the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), the relevant authorities responded immediately in line with approved operational and security procedures, taking the necessary measures to ensure the continuity of air navigation services and the safety of air traffic. All flights, including aircraft transiting the Bahrain FIR, are continuing to operate normally, with monitoring under way in coordination with international organisations.

Earlier on Monday, the Bahrain Defence Force said it had intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial attacks.

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it called repeated Iranian attacks on the kingdom's civilian and vital facilities using missiles and drones, describing them as a violation of Bahrain's sovereignty and a breach of international law and the UN Charter. It said the targeting of civil air navigation systems posed a serious threat to the safety of international civil aviation and to the lives of passengers and crews, and amounted to a breach of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and resolutions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The ministry underlined the kingdom's right to take all legitimate measures to protect its sovereignty, security and stability in line with international law.

Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, has been repeatedly targeted in recent days amid a sharp escalation in the region. Iran has launched missiles and drones at several Gulf states hosting US forces — among them Bahrain and Kuwait — in retaliation for renewed US strikes on Iranian territory, after a fragile US-Iran ceasefire unravelled earlier this month.