Iran Strikes at U.S. Bases Caused Extensive Damage

M.A. Dworkin

The Middle East - Although the U.S. has established complete superiority in the skies over Iran, and has destroyed Iran’s naval capacity along with its air defenses, what is left of the crippled Iranian regime has been able to cause extensive damage to a number of U.S. bases stationed in the countries surrounding Iran.  

The NY Times has confirmed that several military bases in the Middle East have been severely damaged in Iran’s retaliatory efforts in respects to the U.S.-Israeli war. The attacks have forced many American troops to relocate to hotels and office spaces throughout the region, according to military personnel and American officials. 

In the early stages of the war, Iran responded forcefully to the joint U.S. and Israeli strikes. They have launched hundreds of drones and missiles into neighboring countries causing extensive damage to many of the 13 U.S. military bases in the region used by American troops, some of which have become uninhabitable. The ones in Kuwait, which is next door to Iran, suffered the most damage as radar sites were hit at Camp Arifjan, a U.S. military facility. In Qatar, Iran struck Al Udeid Air Base, the regional air headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, damaging an early warning system. In Bahrain, a one-way Iranian attack drone struck communications equipment at the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. At Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles and drones damaged communications equipment and several refueling tankers. In Jordan, a significant portion of damage was caused by a strike on a U.S. radar system at an air base.  

“Yes, we have the ability to set up expedient operation centers, but you’re absolutely going to lose capacity,” said Master Sgt. Wes J. Bryant, a retired Special Operations targeting specialist in the U.S. Air Force. “You can’t just put all that equipment on the top of a hotel, for example. Some of it is unwieldy.” 

A U.S. military official confirmed that troops are not working from the roofs of civilian hotels.

According to a report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) and a study by BBC News, the initial retaliatory strikes on U.S. military bases by Iran in the first two weeks of the war has caused somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 million in damage. 

The figure of $800 million in estimated damage is higher than the previously reported figures and offers a picture of the steep costs to the U.S. as the conflict drags on. The full extent of the damages by Iranian strikes on U.S. assets in the region is not clear at this time.

Iran’s retaliatory strikes targeted U.S. air-defense and satellite-communications systems, among other assets, in Jordan, the UAE, and other countries across the Middle East.

“The damage to U.S. bases in the region has been underreported,” said a CSIS senior analyst. “Although it appears to be extensive, the full amount won’t be known until more information is available.”

The U.S. has lost 13 military service members since the war began on February 28, 2026. The U.S. based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) estimates the overall death toll has reached nearly 3,200, including 1,400 civilians. 

President Trump has stated the U.S. is on track to achieve its goal of destroying Iran’s nuclear program, degrading its conventional military power, and ending the current Iranian regime’s support for terrorist proxy groups in the region. 

“We’re doing extremely well in Iran,” Trump said at a recent White House event. 

But the war has surely rattled the global economy with the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent gas prices spiralling in the U.S. and around the globe. Even as negotiations, through a third party nation, appear to be taking place to invoke a ceasefire and put an end to the war, there is still the uncertainty as to the duration of the conflict, and as to whether President Trump will decide to deploy ground troops in Iran to take over the Strait of Hormuz.