Iran Damaged or Destroyed Hundreds of Targets in US Bases, Reporting Reveals

Iranian forces have damaged or destroyed hundreds of targets in U.S. bases amid the war, causing far more extensive damage than previously reported by the U.S. government, new reporting based on satellite images reveals.

Analysis of the imagery by The Washington Post finds that at least 228 assets have been struck by Iran since the start of the war, including “hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment.”

Overall, across 15 U.S. bases in the region, 217 structures and 11 pieces of equipment were struck, the analysis said. This assessment is not comprehensive, the paper says, and could omit damage done that isn’t reflected in the images used for this analysis.

The report was done using over 100 high-resolution satellite images released by Iranian state-affiliated agencies, the publication says, and cross checked with lower resolution imagery, which confirmed that none of the Iranian images were manipulated. Satellite images have been scarce in the U.S. due to censorship of satellite images by private companies at the request of the U.S. government.

“Experts who reviewed The Post’s analysis said the damage at the sites suggested that the U.S. military had underestimated Iran’s targeting abilities, not adapted sufficiently to modern drone warfare and left some bases under-protected,” The Post’s report says. The photos of the damage suggest that the strikes were highly precise, experts said, with bombs landing on targets and not leaving random craters.

The damage to the facilities could raise the estimated costs of the war even higher than previously acknowledged by the Trump administration.

While some of the strikes could have been strategically let through by U.S. forces, other images and reports indicate that there were tactical shortfalls that allowed Iranian strikes to do more damage than they would have otherwise, the analysis found.

This includes images showing just a thin tin roof on a tactical center in Kuwait, offering little to no protection against drone strikes. This center was struck by Iran on the first full day of the war, killing six service members, with survivors later criticizing the U.S. military’s lack of preparedness for the attack.

Indeed, the reporting builds upon previous reports finding that U.S. bases have sustained significant damage that has not been acknowledged by Pentagon officials. In fact, reporting by NBC last week found that the Trump administration is aware of the damage, but has been stonewalling the public and Congress when asked about the extent of it.

“No one knows anything. And it’s not for lack of asking,” one congressional GOP aide told NBC. “We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record-high budget.”

The Intercept has also previously reported that the Pentagon is obfuscating data on the number of U.S. casualties resulting from the war, which had reached over 400 dead and wounded as of last count.

In testimony before Congress last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he regrets the casualties, but downplayed them as the “consequence of conflict.”