The Iranian forces have launched drone attacks on the military facilities of the United States in Bahrain, according to a statement released by the Iranian Army's Public Relations Department on early Friday.
The attacks, which were the 11th phase of Operation Lightning, were carried out hours before the statement was released.
The drone attacks were launched towards relevant military facilities at the Shaikh Isa Air Base and targeted the deployment area of U.S. military helicopters and P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft.
Iran said that the operation was a response to recent U.S. attacks on Iranian urban infrastructure and the civilian casualties that they had caused.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned a series of U.S. strikes targeting civilian facilities and infrastructure of the country.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported Thursday that U.S. strikes hit residential areas, communications towers, and bridges in many locations, including Bandar Abbas, Sirik Port, and Qeshm Island. The strikes on residential areas in Bandar Abbas reportedly caused casualties and power outages in some neighborhoods.
Iranian forces launch drone attacks on US military facilities in Bahrain
China now holds a higher global favorability rating than the United States, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, a shift that a Chinese international relations expert attributes to China's development achievements and its contributions in global governance.
The poll, released on Wednesday, showed that among the 36 countries and territories surveyed, 25 hold more favorable views of China than the United States, including some U.S. allies.
In Canada, only 33 percent of respondents view the U.S. positively, down from 57 percent in 2023. Over that same period, favorable opinions of China among Canadians jumped from 14 percent to 44 percent.
Major European nations have also pivoted, with France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands all showing more positive opinions toward China than toward the United States.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington welcomed the findings, saying the poll demonstrates that China’s governance achievements and development progress are widely recognized.
That view was echoed by Rong Ying, a chair professor at Sichuan University, who said the shifting of favorability reflects a growing global acknowledgment of China's constructive role.
"Change or the shift of that favorability between China and the United States demonstrate very much the way that China's development, the result of development, are recognized by more and more countries, not only those that have been surveyed, but the world at large. And they've also been very much in a way that with the growth, I mean the development of China, China's contributions, China's role in terms of development, global development and in terms of international peace and security has also been very proactive and widely recognized,” said Rong.
At the same time, Rong attributed the decline in U.S. favorability to what he described as American disruptive impact on global order.
“On the contrary, I think the reversal of the United States favorability is very much the result of the shift of U.S. role, which demonstrated unreliability and indeed, I think the disruption caused by the United States in terms of international order, in terms of regional peace and stability, and in terms of providing credibility and stability," said Rong.
China's rise in global favorability driven by development, contributions: expert
