Iran Inflicted Greater Damage on U.S. Military Bases Than Publicly Disclosed, Officials Say

A series of satellite images, released by Iranian media on March 24, provides a before-and-after comparison of US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. (CGTN satellite images)

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	Iran has inflicted more “extensive” damage to US bases and equipment in the Middle East since the start of US and Israeli strikes, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing sources.
	Iran Inflicted Greater Damage on U.S. Military Bases Than Publicly Disclosed, Officials Say Jordan Jenkins, Senior Investigative Reporter Tell Us USA News Network WASHINGTON - Bombshell investigations released on April 26, 2026 reveal that damage to U.S. military infrastructure in the Middle East is far worse than Washington has acknowledged. Major reports published Saturday by NBC News and CBS, drawing on current and former U.S. officials, congressional aides, and independent think tank assessments, present a picture that contradicts the Pentagon’s own public statements since Iran launched its retaliatory strikes. In the weeks after the Trump administration conducted strikes on February 28, Iran responded with a wave of attacks that struck dozens of targets across U.S. military bases in seven Middle Eastern countries. According to U.S. officials and an assessment by the conservative American Enterprise Institute, those attacks hit warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications infrastructure, runways, high‑end radar systems, and dozens of aircraft. AEI’s analysis reportedly found Iran struck more than 100 targets spread across 11 U.S. bases in the region, including facilities in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The cost of repairing the damage is expected to run into the billions of dollars. Perhaps the most alarming revelation concerns a previously undisclosed breach in U.S. air defenses. In the early days of the conflict, an Iranian F‑5 fighter jet bombed the U.S. base Camp Buehring in Kuwait even though the base was equipped with active air defenses. The strike marks the first time in years that an enemy fixed‑wing aircraft has successfully hit an American military base, a rare development in modern U.S. expeditionary warfare. The F‑5 is a decades‑old platform, which makes the penetration even more embarrassing for U.S. air defense planners. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had previously downplayed Iran’s military capabilities, telling reporters in March that Iran could do little of real threat to U.S. forces and that most incoming missiles would be shot down. NBC reports, however, that a significant number of missiles did get through at various points during the conflict. The toll is not limited to hardware and infrastructure. CBS reporting centers on a March 1 drone strike that killed six U.S. service members from the Army’s 103rd Sustainment Command and wounded more than 60 others, making it the deadliest single incident for U.S. personnel in the conflict. Many of the wounded suffered traumatic brain injuries, shrapnel wounds, and severe burns. Allegations of a cover‑up extend beyond the physical damage to bases. An analysis published this week by The Intercept argues that the true number of American service member casualties is higher than the Pentagon has disclosed to Congress and the public.