American military bases across the Middle East sustained "extensive damage" from recent Iranian strikes that was "far worse than publicly acknowledged," according to a new report drawing on interviews with US officials and congressional aides.NBC News,citing findings from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, reported that the scale of destruction — including damage to infrastructure and aircraft — has been largely shielded from public view.
According to the report, Iran struck more than 100 targets across 11 American bases in the region, including facilities in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The assessment estimates that the damage exceeded $5 billion. The Pentagon has publicly acknowledged 13 US service member deaths and nearly 400 injuries linked to the strikes.
Images circulating on social media and carried by Reuters appear showed a destroyedAmerican E-3 Sentryaircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia following an Iranian drone attack.
Two US officials told NBC that an Iranian F-5 fighter jet successfully breached American air defenses to strike a base in Kuwait — an event they described as "the first time an enemy fixed-wing aircraft has struck an American military base in years."
The reported strike challenges earlier claims by Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had dismissed the likelihood that Iran could inflict significant damage.
Trump said on Friday that Iran had "been obliterated" and added on Saturday that the United States held "all the cards" in negotiations.
Hegseth, speaking in March, said Iranian missiles would not reach their targets. "There's almost nothing they can militarily do about it," he said. "Yes, they will still shoot some missiles, but we will shoot them down."
NBC reported that a number of those missiles did in fact get through.
Some Republican lawmakers have expressed frustration over what they describe as a lack of transparency from the Pentagon. "No one knows anything. And it's not for lack of asking," a Republican congressional aide told NBC. "We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record high budget."
A Pentagon official, responding to NBC, said: "We do not discuss battle damage assessments for operational security reasons. Our forces remain fully operational, and we continue to execute our mission with the same readiness and combat effectiveness."
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