Nournews, an outlet closely tied to Iran's security establishment, published an article dismissing a CENTCOM-hosted security meeting in Bahrain as an American attempt to disguise Washington's strategic failures in West Asia rather than a genuine display of power.
Nournews is widely regarded as a media platform close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council and associated with hardline security circles, and this article's framing—invoking "the Ramadan war," Iran's "resistance," and warnings to Gulf Arab states—reflects messaging closely aligned with the Islamic Republic's official security narrative. The piece repeatedly channels the language of Iran's military and political leadership, presenting Tehran as the indispensable arbiter of Gulf security and casting any Arab cooperation with Washington as a repeat of a "historic defeat".
The CENTCOM Meeting in Bahrain
According to the report, CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper met in Manama with senior officials from eleven Middle Eastern countries—Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen—to discuss regional security developments and defense cooperation, a meeting announced by CENTCOM on social media platform X. Nournews cited the Bahraini Defense Force as host of the gathering, describing it as a "regional security dialogue".
The article argues that what it calls the "Ramadan war" exposed the "illusion" of American security guarantees, claiming US bases and installations in the region suffered significant damage and that Washington cannot even secure its own forces, let alone guarantee regional security. It asserts that America's true and unchanging priority is Israel's security, not that of its Arab partners, alleging Washington's policies enabled "genocide" in Gaza, indifference toward occupation in Lebanon, and support for Israeli actions in Syria.
Warnings Over the Strait of Hormuz
A central thrust of the piece is a direct warning to Gulf Arab states against supporting US-proposed alternative corridors bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, insisting Iran is the sole decisive actor in that waterway and that "no country" can alter this geopolitical reality. It references Secretary of State Marco Rubio's discussion of new transit corridors with the Gulf Cooperation Council and explicitly invokes a "14-point memorandum" as enshrining Iran's veto power over Hormuz security arrangements. The outlet also singles out Bahrain for criticism, saying Manama's repeated allegations against Iran at the UN Security Council reflect a failure to grasp the "fundamental change" in West Asia's security balance after what it calls the defeat of "aggressors" in the Ramadan war.
Call for a US Military Exit
The article closes by asserting that durable regional peace requires ending the "sale of security" model and, explicitly, "the end of US military presence in the region," alongside confrontation with Israel, while declaring Iran ready to deploy "all its capacities" in service of regional security. This rhetorical structure—casting Iran as the guarantor of a "new regional order" while delegitimizing US and Gulf Arab security cooperation—is consistent with narratives long promoted by Iranian state and state-affiliated media following heightened Iran-Israel-US tensions