Satellite images suggest Iran damaged 20 US military sites across Middle East

Satellite images and video reviewed by verification specialists indicate that Iranian attacks have damaged 20 US military installations since the start of the war. The damage is said to span strategic bases in eight Middle Eastern countries, with hangars, radar systems and other equipment among the affected assets. The findings suggest the scale of the strikes may have been broader than Washington had publicly acknowledged.

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The material reviewed points to damage at sites including the Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait, where hangars were reported damaged. It also says three THAAD missile defence systems, each valued at about US$1bn, were damaged in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The Pentagon is estimated to have spent about US$29bn on the operation, which the report says includes the destruction or damage of at least 42 military aircraft since February.

The report says the Iranian attacks have hit advanced air-defence systems, refuelling aircraft and radar equipment. It also says the strikes were carried out in response to US and Israeli bombardments against Iran and Lebanon over the past three months. A US defence official declined to comment on the findings, citing operational security reasons.

The report also says the attacks were carried out using relatively cheap drones with high precision. The damage matters because it points to a wider and more sustained exchange than official statements have suggested. If confirmed, the losses would underline the vulnerability of fixed military infrastructure across the region, even when protected by advanced air-defence systems.

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They would also add to the financial burden of a conflict that has already drawn in multiple states and military sites across the Middle East. The report places the strikes in the context of the wider war that has developed since February, when the US began Operation Epic Fury, described as a campaign against Iranian targets. It says the Pentagon has struck more than 13,000 Iranian targets since the start of that operation.

The Iranian side, meanwhile, has presented the attacks on US installations as evidence that American bases in the region are no longer secure. Mojtaba Khamenei, identified in the report as Iran's current supreme leader, said in a statement last week that the Middle East was no longer a "safe place" for US bases. That message appears intended to signal deterrence and to frame the strikes as part of a broader confrontation.

The report also suggests that the damage to US sites may have been more extensive than the White House has publicly admitted. What remains unclear is the full extent of the damage at each site, whether all 20 installations were directly hit in the same way, and how many of the affected systems are still out of service. It is also not clear whether the US will publicly revise its assessment of the strikes or the cost of repairs and replacements.

Further official comment, if any, would be needed to confirm the satellite-based findings and to establish the operational impact on US forces in the region.

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