"The Capital Capitals Are Burning?" — Iran's Chilling "Missile City" Video Shows Paris, London, Berlin Under Fire As US Radar Station Is Blitzed In Bahrain

Hillary Michael · World · Nov 13, 2026

A dramatic escalation unfolded this week as Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) broadcast a simulated strike on the capitals of France, London, and Germany, showing missiles wiping out US B-2 bombers and refuelling jets on European soil.

The week began with a threat that felt like a scene from a war movie—because it literally was. On November 4, Iranian state-affiliated media and the IRGC released a chilling video showing a simulated missile strike on Paris, London, and Berlin. The footage depicted Iranian missiles destroying US Air Force B-2 stealth bombers, radar installations, and KC-135 tanker aircraft parked at European bases. The accompanying narration, delivered by a spokesman for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, issued a stark warning to European publics: "Any person in Europe who helps America harm our women and children is our enemy". The video was widely interpreted as a calculated psychological operation designed to drive a wedge between Washington and its European allies, timed precisely as President Trump's midterm election losses weakened his domestic political standing.

But the simulation was only the opening act. On Friday, November 13, the IRGC announced it had carried out a real retaliatory strike, targeting a US early-warning radar system on the island of Bahrain. The Guards claimed the attack was a direct response to a US air aggression against a telecommunications tower in Sirik, in Iran's southern Hormozgan province. "A few hours ago, IRGC Aerospace Force fighters targeted and destroyed the US aggressors' early-warning radar on the island of Bahrain," the statement read, calling it "a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to stop its aerial provocations". There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from Bahrain or the United States, though the attack marked the first on a US military asset in the Gulf since early September.

The real-world consequences of the escalation are already being felt across Europe. In the UK, the US military has moved 13 aircraft out of RAF Mildenhall following a security threat, while officials confirmed that aircraft used in previous operations against Iran had already been evacuated from RAF Fairford in October. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly moved to a military base due to credible Iranian threats against his life. And the cyber front has widened: France has formally accused Iran's Revolutionary Guard of hacking supermarket refrigeration systems in October, costing millions in spoiled food, and now Belgium says its own evidence points to Tehran for a similar attack in early November. Similar refrigeration disruptions were reported by retailers in Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden, suggesting a coordinated campaign across the continent.

Iran's warnings have grown increasingly explicit. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, declared on Thursday that any military base involved in an attack on Iran would be considered a legitimate target, "regardless of its location". Military official Kioumars Heydari had earlier warned that Iranian missiles and drones could reach American bases and interests beyond the Middle East, cautioning countries against allowing their territory to be used for attacks on Iran. The message is unmistakable: if Europe provides the launchpad, Europe becomes the battlefield. The Strait of Hormuz has also become a flashpoint, with the IRGC claiming that two oil supertankers were disabled by explosions on Wednesday night after ignoring warnings against using an unauthorised shipping route, and a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas striking a naval mine on Friday.

The question now is whether Europe will hold the line with Washington or begin to step back. The simulated video of burning capitals was designed to make European voters and politicians think twice before supporting any new military action against Iran—to raise the political cost of loyalty to the US. The real strike in Bahrain and the cyberattacks across the continent suggest that Tehran is not bluffing about its willingness to widen the war. But the distinction between simulation and reality remains crucial: the video was special effects, a psychological weapon. The radar station in Bahrain was real. The refrigerators in French and Belgian supermarkets were real. And the 13 American aircraft that quietly left a British base in the dead of night were real too. Iran may not be able to hit the US mainland, but it has made one thing abundantly clear—it can reach Europe, and it is no longer interested in hiding it.