Iran welcomes US admission of damage to 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain

Iran on Friday welcomed the acknowledgment by a senior US Navy official that Iranian attacks had severely damaged the headquarters of the US Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

"We appreciate the candor of Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the US social media company X.

"Our powerful Armed Forces did indeed 'blow the hell out of the 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain,' as well as other bases supporting US aggression," he said.

"The American people deserve better than footing the bill for Israel's wars," Araghchi added.

Cao reportedly acknowledged that Iranian attacks caused extensive damage to US naval facilities in Bahrain, according to The Epoch Times.

Iranian forces "blew the hell out of Bahrain," the outlet quoted Cao as saying in an interview, in a rare high-level acknowledgment of the extent of damage sustained by Naval Support Activity Bahrain, headquarters of the US 5th Fleet.

Cao said damage to the base also affected operations involving the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, leaving the crew with "no place for them to pull in."

Open-source and satellite imagery analyses previously indicated substantial damage to US facilities in Bahrain during Iranian attacks early in the war.

The Navy's top uniformed officer, Adm. Daryl Caudle, said earlier this month that the service would not return to Naval Support Activity Bahrain "anytime soon" because of the damage.

The USS Abraham Lincoln had spent nearly nine months on an extended deployment, including about 200 days in a combat zone, before docking at Laem Chabang, Thailand, earlier this month.

The extended deployment drew scrutiny from lawmakers and sailors' families amid reports of food and water shortages, plumbing problems and deteriorating morale, as well as concerns about sailors' mental health and the risk of self-harm.