On the morning of Sunday, March 1, 2026, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the centre of the Bahraini capital Manama, was hit by an alleged Iranian drone strike. At least two civilians were reportedly injured as were two employees of the U.S. Department of Defense. The hotel suffered material damage and the names of those injured have not been publicly reported.

Four injuries reported

At 10:00 on March 1, Andalou Agency reported “four injuries, most of them minor” in Bahrain. On Facebook, Abu Bakr Abdullah reported the bombing of the hotel at 10:22 a.m, marking the information as “urgent.” He also added an image showing a cloud of white smoke, billowing in the skies, with skyscrapers in the distance.

Two U.S. Department of Defense Employees injured

Anadolu Agency reported the incident and injuries at 3.37 p.m. On Twitter/X, @AJABreaking, citing an unnamed US official, reported harm to Pentagon (US Department of Defense) staff staying in the hotel. On March 2, Facebook user Muhammad Ja’far Al-Sa’idi reported that the hotel was “sheltering American officers and soldiers after the Guards bombed last night” – possibly referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Following this attack, the US Embassy in Bahrain issued the following statement: “The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain is tracking confirmed reports that the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Manama was struck on March 1, 2026, resulting in injuries. We advise U.S. citizens in Bahrain that hotels might be a target for future attacks, and encourage U.S. citizens to avoid hotels in Manama.’’

On Monday, March 2, the Washington Post, citing a U.S. State Department cable, reported that two employees of the U.S. Department of Defense were injured when an Iranian drone struck the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The cable was sent on Sunday and did not provide further details, said the newspaper.

The Department of Defense – a military organisation

As the U.S. Department of Defense directly oversees the U.S. Armed Forces, and as such, employees of the Department are considered militants. As such, the range of civilians reportedly injured in this incident has been recorded as two to four, allowing for the possibility that the two Department of Defense employees were included in the aggregate count of four injuries. Injury to two militants has also been recorded, accounting for the report published by the Washington Post.

Images of Manama following the strike

Dounia TV posted on Facebook that “Iran targeted the Crown Plaza Hotel in the Bahraini capital, Manama, as part of a new wave of attacks on civilian facilities in Gulf countries with missiles and drones following the killing of Khamenei.’’ The media outlet also added multiple images showing the cloud of smoke in the city’s downtown settings.

Bahraini Ministry Statement

The Bahraini Interior Ministry stated that the attack caused material damage only and resulted in no loss of life. On Facebook, Al Hadath Lebanon posted a video showing minor damage inflicted on the hotel’s facade.

Belligerent attribution

Where sources identified the belligerent, they consistently attributed the strike to the Iranian military.