Bahrain
Gulf archipelago hosting the US Fifth Fleet; most heavily bombarded state per square kilometre in the 2026 Iran conflict.
Last refreshed: 29 March 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
The smallest country in the Gulf is taking the biggest beating; what does it get in return?
Latest on Bahrain
- Why is Iran attacking Bahrain?
- Bahrain hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters and has an Israeli embassy. Iran views it as a forward base for American operations and has struck military and civilian targets.Source: editorial
- Where is the US Fifth Fleet based?
- The US Fifth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Manama. It has been struck by Iranian missiles in the 2026 conflict, the first direct attack on a major US naval base by a state adversary.Source: editorial
- Is Bahrain Sunni or Shia?
- Bahrain has a Shia majority population governed by a Sunni monarchy, the Al Khalifa dynasty. This sectarian divide is a persistent source of internal tension that Iran has historically sought to exploit.Source: editorial
- How many missiles has Bahrain intercepted?
- Bahrain intercepted 198 projectiles (75 missiles and 123 drones) in the first six days of the conflict, more per square kilometre than any other state in the region.Source: editorial
Background
An archipelago of 33 islands in the Persian Gulf, Bahrain has a population of roughly 1.5 million, over half of them foreign nationals. It hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, making it the most forward-deployed American naval presence in the Gulf. Bahrain's Shia majority population is governed by a Sunni monarchy, a sectarian fault line that Iran has historically exploited.
Bahrain has absorbed more Iranian fire per square kilometre than any other state in the 2026 conflict, intercepting 198 projectiles in just six days . Iran struck the US Fifth Fleet headquarters , hit the BAPCO oil refinery with a ballistic missile and attacked the Israeli Embassy compound .
Britain pulled diplomats from Bahrain as strikes intensified , and even Bahrain abstained on a ceasefire resolution at the UN , signalling that the kingdom's alignment with Washington is not unconditional. Threats to Bahrain's desalination plants would be existential: the island has almost no natural fresh water.
