Iranian attacks damage hundreds of U.S. facilities across Middle East, Pentagon watchdog says

The Defense Department watchdog said U.S. Central Command reported damage at bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. The report also said dozens of U.S. aircraft and drones were damaged or destroyed. (Tell Us USA Ai image)

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Iranian attacks damage hundreds of U.S. facilities across Middle East, Pentagon watchdog says

Daoud Al-Jaber - Middle East Affairs Analysis
Tell Us Worldwide News Network

WASHINGTON — Iranian missile and drone strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. military installations across eight Middle Eastern countries during the first months of the conflict, according to a new Pentagon inspector general report that provides the most detailed public accounting yet of the toll on American forces and infrastructure.

The Defense Department watchdog said U.S. Central Command reported damage at bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. The report also said dozens of U.S. aircraft and drones were damaged or destroyed.

Broad regional impact

The assessment covers the early phase of the war, from late February through June 30, and describes a regional campaign that struck not only military sites but also diplomatic facilities and logistics networks used by U.S. forces.

The Pentagon inspector general did not publicly provide a base-by-base damage estimate, a full inventory of destroyed equipment or a comprehensive reconstruction cost. But the report said the strikes damaged and destroyed “hundreds of buildings and structures,” a scale that indicates the attacks affected a wide range of facilities, including operational, support and living infrastructure.

Among the installations targeted was the U.S. Navy’s principal regional logistics hub in Bahrain, which was hit by Iranian drones and ballistic missiles, the watchdog found. Damage to that location created logistical complications for U.S. naval operations in the region.

Aircraft and equipment losses

The report also documented losses of dozens of American aircraft and unmanned systems. Reporting based on the watchdog’s findings put total U.S. equipment losses at about $3.7 billion, while an account citing the report said at least 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones were among the aircraft destroyed or damaged.

Images obtained by U.S. news organizations showed damaged structures and aircraft at facilities in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. One image reportedly showed an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft damaged at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia; the aircraft’s reported value was about $270 million.

The physical damage came despite defensive measures, force-protection actions and the movement or evacuation of some assets from vulnerable sites. Iran’s use of ballistic missiles and drones posed a sustained challenge to fixed military facilities spread across the Gulf and wider Middle East.

Diplomatic damage and financial cost

The attacks also caused an estimated $184 million in damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the inspector general reported. Iraq accounted for more than $157 million of that total, followed by Kuwait with more than $14 million and Saudi Arabia with about $11.5 million; damage in the UAE was estimated at $125,000.

The watchdog estimated the broader U.S. cost of the conflict at at least $33.4 billion as of June 29. That figure includes more than repair costs and reflects the expense of military operations, deployments and equipment used or lost during the war.

Long-term implications

The findings underscore the vulnerability of large, established U.S. bases to coordinated missile and drone attacks, particularly when adversaries can strike from multiple directions and repeatedly target runways, aircraft shelters, fuel areas, housing and logistics infrastructure.

A senior U.S. service member told ABC News that some installations had suffered damage that could take years — and potentially decades — to fully rebuild if Washington chooses to restore them to their prior capacity. That assessment has not been independently detailed by the Pentagon, which has released limited public information about individual bases and repair plans.

The inspector general’s report also warned that the war had produced strategic munitions shortfalls and exposed industrial-base bottlenecks in replenishing U.S. weapons stocks. That means the damage assessment is likely to shape not only reconstruction decisions but also future debates over missile defense, force dispersal, hardened shelters and the long-term U.S. military posture in the Middle East.

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