After weeks of threats by Donald Trump, U.S. forces have directly attacked Iran’s three main nuclear sites – and Tehran has said it reserves all options to defend itself.
Trump claimed to have “completely, totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, in a series of missile strikes and bombings which came days after giving himself a two-week deadline to make a decision on the attack.
Tehran had previously issued stark warnings to Washington that it would respond firmly in the event of a direct US attack directly attacked Iran.
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“The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” supreme leader Ali Khamenei said in a televised address on Wednesday. “The US entering in this matter [war] is 100% to its own detriment. The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter.”
The US has long had major military bases in the Gulf Arab States. It moved some aircraft and ships last week that may be vulnerable to a potential Iranian attack and limited access to its largest installation, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Where are the US bases?
The US operates a broad network of sites across at least 19 locations in the wider region, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Eight are permanent, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Tens of thousands of US troops are stationed across the Middle East, in Arab Gulf countries just across the Persian Gulf from Iran — and much closer than Israel.
Those bases boast the same kinds of sophisticated air defences as Israel, but would have much less warning time before waves of missiles or swarms of armed drones. And even Israel, which is several hundred kilometers (miles) further away, has been unable to stop all of the incoming fire.
Iran could also choose to attack key oil and gas facilities in those countries with the goal of exacting a higher price for US involvement in the war. A drone attack on two major oil sites in Saudi Arabia in 2019 — claimed by the Houthis but widely blamed on Iran — briefly cut the kingdom’s oil production in half.
Bahrain
Naval Support Activity Bahrain (NSA Bahrain) is home to the US Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet.
The deep-water port can America’s largest military vessels including aircraft carriers. Four anti-mine vessels, two logistical support ships and several US Coast Guard vessels have a home port in Bahrain.
Britain’s Royal Navy opened and operated the port during the 1920s, and the first US military presence was established when they joined World War 2. After the war it was recognised as a US Navy site.
Iraq
The US has a number of military bases in Iraq, including two air fields – the Al-Harir and Al Asad air bases – and dozens of camps and outposts. These bases were repeatedly targeted by pro-Iran militant groups after Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023.
At the height of the US occupation of the country from 2003 until 2011, there were reportedly 170,000 US personnel stationed in 505 bases across the country.
In January 2024, the Iraqi government requested a start to negotiations on ending the US military presence in Iraq, as regional tensions grew due to the situation in Gaza.
Kuwait
Kuwait plays host to several US installations, including two air bases, alongside a number of other outposts.
Ali Al Salem Air Base is home to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, one of the main hubs for delivering combat support in the region.
Qatar
Qatar’s Al Udeid AIr Base is the largest of its kind in the region, according to the Reuters news agency. It includes components of Central Command (Centcom), and elements of its air forces and special operations forces in the Middle East.
The 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which includes “airlift, aerial refueling intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and aeromedical evacuation assets,” AFP reports.
Syria
US troops have been stationed in Syria for years as part of an international coalition fighting Islamic State forces in the country, which rose from the country’s civil war.
In April, after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Pentagon announced it would halve the number of troops in the country to less than 1,000.
United Arab Emirates
Al Dahfra Air Base is home to the US 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, which has 10 aircraft squadrons and holds MQ-9 Reaper drones.
The base also hosts the Gulf Air Warfare Centre for air and missile defense training.
Egypt
The US does not hold any major combat bases in Egypt, but there are a number of military facilities stationed in the country.
Naval Medical Research Unit Three is based in Cairo, conducting research on infectious diseases and their prevention, and hosting the department of defense’s largest overseas laboratory.
Jordan
The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan was allocated for $143 million in upgrades and expansion in 2018.
It hosts military partners including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, with two runways almost 10,000 feet long.
Has Iran attacked the bases before?
US forces have been attacked on several occasions by Iran-backed forces since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza and the subsequent conflicts with other state and non-state actors in the wider region.
In January 2024, three American soldiers were killed and dozens more injured after a one-way attack drone hit the military base Tower 22 in Jordan, near the Syrian border.
US officials blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, for the attack.
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