Iran’s claim that it targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain has thrust one of America’s most important overseas naval commands into the spotlight. Headquartered in Manama, the Fifth Fleet safeguards critical shipping lanes stretching from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Indian Ocean, including the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil supplies pass. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a US base in Jordan and 21 other sites across the Gulf region, including facilities linked to the US military presence in Bahrain and Kuwait, news agency Reuters reported. Most of the incoming missiles and drones were intercepted, according to initial US assessments. What triggered the latest confrontation? The latest round of hostilities began after the US military carried out strikes on Iranian air-defence systems, surveillance radar sites and ground-control stations near the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump said the operation was ordered after a US Apache attack helicopter was brought down by what American officials described as an Iranian one-way attack drone. …