Politics
Bahrain citizens cheer as Iranian missiles strike US base
Bahrainis have been filmed cheering “like it’s New Year’s fireworks” as a new barrage of Iranian missiles hit a US base in Bahrain:
The footage brings to mind scenes from the June 2025 ’12-day war’ in which Palestinians cheered as they watched Iranian missiles slam into their oppressor’s military facilities.
The small island in the Persian Gulf, which was a British protectorate (also read: colony) in the 19th century, has a majority Shia population and a Sunni king. In 2011, Bahrain saw a popular uprising violently crushed by an army from Saudi Arabia and its allies, which remain stationed (also read as occupying) on the island.
Iran’s strikes on the US and Israel are in retaliation for the axis’s unprovoked attacks on Iran, which murdered hundreds on 28 February 2026, including at least 85 schoolgirls and their teachers.
Featured image via the Canary