Iran targeted an American airbase early on Thursday morning in retaliation for renewed US strikes on the country’s south, hours after US president Donald Trump rejected a report he was close to agreeing a deal.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted an unnamed American air base at 4.50am local time, claiming the site was responsible for earlier attacks near Iran’s Bandar Abbas Airport.
The IRGC did not say where the base was, though Kuwait, a US ally, said that it was responding to missile and drone attacks on Thursday morning. Israel also reported sounding sirens for hostile aircraft activity in the north.
A US official said earlier that the military had shot down four Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” the official said.
The United States has around two dozen significant air bases, naval facilities and outposts scattered from Turkey to Oman, offering bases of operations for some 50,000 US service personnel in the region.
The latest clashes highlight the fragility of the ceasefire between the US and Iran that took effect in early April, dampening hopes for a peace deal and sending oil prices surging again.
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Iran has used ballistic missiles and drones to launch large-scale attacks on US allies and assets across the Gulf, which have a self-imposed range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles). It has the largest stockpile of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, according to the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Even Iran’s short-range missiles can reach 435 miles, which would put several US military bases within reach, according to estimates by the CSIS Missile Defense Project in The New York Times.
These include bases and military sites in Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Oman and the UAE – all of which are at risk of Iranian retaliation with short-range weapons.
In the wider region, the US operates a broad network of sites across at least 19 locations, 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 reached them. And even Israel, which is several hundred kilometres further away, has been unable to stop all of the incoming fire.
General Sir Richard Barrons, a former senior UK military officer, told Sky News that Iran was limited in options for manoeuvre, not least because it has lost many top leaders in the past couple of days.
Movements to fire missiles could expose the launch site to American and Israeli attacks from the air, giving Iran’s missile launchers a short life expectancy.
US officials have said in the past that Iran has depleted its medium-range stockpile, with few remaining, but it still maintains ample short-range capabilities.
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 hold 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 the Second World War. After the war it was recognised as a US Navy site.
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. As of 29 January that year, the UK Ministry of Defence said 200 service personnel were deployed on operations there. The British Army is involved in training and supporting Iraqi and Kurdish security forces; they are not operating in a combat role.
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. The RAF has previously used the Ali Al Salem Air Base.
