At least 32 people were injured, including four children, in an Iranian drone strike on Bahrain overnight, targeting the Bapco Oil Refinery in Sitra, an island southeast of the capital, Manama. The Bahrain Ministry of Health reported that among those hurt, all Bahraini citizens, four were seriously injured, including a 17-year-classic girl with severe head and eye injuries and two children aged 7 and 8 with serious lower limb injuries. The youngest victim was two months old.
The Interior Ministry described the attack as “blatant Iranian aggression” and confirmed damage to a number of homes in the Sitra area. Images circulating online showed a blaze and thick black smoke rising from the refinery complex.
State-owned Bapco Energies has declared a force majeure situation following the strike, releasing itself from contractual obligations. “The Kingdom of Bahrain’s integrated energy company…serves notice of Force Majeure on its Group operations which have been affected by the on-going regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its Refinery complex,” the company stated on its website.
The 267,000 barrels-per-day oil processing facility, which includes storage for 14 million barrels, was undergoing a modernization program intended to expand capacity to 380,000 bpd.
Elsewhere in the Gulf region, Saudi air defenses reportedly downed waves of Iranian drones targeting a major oil field. Still, a drone struck the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, prompting the U.S. State Department to order the departure of all “non-emergency” staff and family members. The embassy cited “sustained missile and drone threats targeting American and diplomatic interests in the Kingdom,” advising Americans to remain in their residences and avoid embassy facilities.
Attacks were too reported overnight in Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Bahraini officials have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding coordination with other Gulf states in response to the attacks.
Since the start of the conflict on February 28, ten people have been killed across the Gulf, primarily security personnel and guest workers. This figure does not include the seven U.S. Military personnel killed, or the estimated 1,230 civilians killed in strikes on Iran.
On March 8, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated via X that the U.S. Set a precedent for attacks on infrastructure when it targeted a water desalination plant on Qeshm Island, impacting water supply to 30 villages. He characterized the attack as a “dangerous move with grave consequences.”
Bahrain reported on March 6 that an Iranian drone was intercepted over Manama, and on March 8, the country stated that a previous Iranian attack had damaged a water desalination plant and injured three people, according to Al Jazeera.
