Satellite images show US bases wrecked by Iranian strikes in Middle East

WASHINGTON: The US news agency Associated Press (AP) has released satellite images of American facilities in the Middle East destroyed by Iranian attacks. According to the agency’s analysis, Iran first targeted US air defence systems, then destroyed aircraft and buildings.

AP independently verified the damage to US targets with the help of images from various satellite companies. It also spoke to four officials in the region who had been briefed on the sites hit in the attacks or who had direct knowledge of the damage.

According to the report, more than 115 Iranian drone and missile strikes, from the start of the war until August, damaged or destroyed US military facilities at 26 bases and other sites. The attacks caused billions of dollars of damage to US military equipment.

The attacks have markedly changed the US military presence in the Middle East. According to two officials in the region, the United States has moved many of its military assets out of the Gulf to other places. These include aircraft, air defence systems, communications systems and other equipment needed to keep bases operating.

According to the US news agency, if war resumes, US bases could suffer further heavy financial losses. It could also leave it uncertain whether, after the war ends, the United States will decide to rebuild and restore its bases and equipment in the region.

Attacks on Kuwait and other bases

The analysis of the satellite images showed that Iran carried out most of its attacks in Kuwait. However, US military facilities in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also targeted. The deadliest known attack on US troops during the war took place in Kuwait, where six American soldiers were killed in a drone strike at Port Shuaiba on 1 March.

Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked at least 30 times. The attacks damaged or destroyed hangars for at least 15 aircraft, several warehouses and 10 buildings near a residential area. Camp Buehring suffered even more damage, and most of its aircraft hangars became unusable because of the Iranian attacks.

In the first two days of the war, Iran destroyed structures protecting US radar systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and at Naval Support Activity sites in Bahrain. Iran also targeted mobile radar systems at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Radars in Jordan and Qatar were also hit.

After targeting the radar systems, Iran carried out more than 50 successful strikes on 18 sites holding US military equipment in the first month of the war. The attacks gave priority to sites where aircraft were present. According to a Congressional Research Service report updated in October, a total of 15 US aircraft were damaged at US bases in the Middle East.

Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, about 20 miles south of Abu Dhabi, was also hit repeatedly in the early days of the war.

Defence expert Raphael Cohen said the way wars are fought today has left all the world’s armed forces exposed to large-scale, low-cost drone attacks, and this should be a warning for the United States.

According to AP, at the request of US officials, major satellite companies with contracts with the United States stopped or delayed the public release of these images. US officials had in some cases described the publication of the images as a threat to national security.