BBC Verify reported on June 1 that satellite imagery and video evidence indicate Iranian forces have struck 20 American military facilities across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman since late February. The analysis suggests the damage to US regional assets is significantly greater than Washington has publicly acknowledged. The attacks were launched in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes across Iran and Lebanon over the past three months. Tehran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, highlighted the military’s success on Tuesday, stating that the Middle East is no longer a “safe place” for American bases.
Satellite reviews identified severe damage to three Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, anti-ballistic missile batteries stationed at Al Ruwais and Al Sader airbases in the UAE and at Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan. The United States operates only eight of these systems globally, each costing approximately $1 billion to manufacture and requiring a crew of roughly 100 personnel. Former Irish Defence Forces chief Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett told BBC Verify that the batteries are central to a “highly complex” regional defense architecture that cannot be “quickly or easily replaced.”
Further damage was documented at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, where expert analysis revealed heavily damaged refueling and surveillance aircraft alongside smoking craters. A MAIAR analyst identified a struck E-3 Sentry surveillance plane, which US media estimates could cost up to $700 million to replace. Iranian strikes also repeatedly hit Ali Al Salem Airbase and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, where satellite images showed destroyed fuel storage bunkers, aircraft hangars, and troop accommodations. Defense intelligence firm Janes noted extensive damage to satellite communications hardware at Camp Arifjan.
While the White House has repeatedly asserted that Iranian military capabilities are nearly destroyed, analysts point to evidence that Tehran’s strikes have grown increasingly precise. Dr. Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Centre explained that Iran’s opening salvos relied on mass waves to overwhelm air defenses, but operations quickly shifted to smaller, targeted strikes conserving remaining missiles and drones for high-value targets. “The current conflict has consumed US and partner air defence stocks at a significant rate,” Grieco said. “There is no rapid path to replenishment.”
US officials restricted Planet, a leading commercial satellite imagery provider, from publishing new photos of Iran and much of the Middle East for “operational security reasons.” BBC Verify circumvented the restriction by combining older Planet data with imagery from other international providers. Some independent analysts estimate the number of damaged bases could be as high as 28. A US defense official declined to comment on the BBC Verify findings.
A Pentagon estimate in May placed the total cost of Operation Epic Fury at $29 billion, with a substantial portion expected to cover the repair or replacement of destroyed equipment. US lawmakers from the Democratic Party argued the figure is likely an underestimate. At least 42 aircraft have been destroyed or damaged since February, including F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones, and an A-10 attack plane. Iranian forces have reportedly relied on cheap, easily replaceable drones to sustain these attacks.
A MAIAR analyst suggested the US military “appears to have been guilty of a degree of early-war complacency” by failing to relocate aircraft out of Iranian drone and missile range even as Tehran’s tactics evolved. The facility at Prince Sultan had been under fire previously before the aircraft were struck.
The findings emerged as a fragile US-Iranian ceasefire came under renewed strain. Days after Khamenei vowed that regional nations would no longer serve as “shields for American bases,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted an American base following fresh US strikes on southern Iran. Grieco warned that if the ceasefire breaks down, facilities across the Gulf could face renewed vulnerability, noting that any fresh Iranian assault would encounter a fraction of the interceptor missiles available at the start of the conflict.