Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine conducts a press briefing about Operation Epic Fury at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 24, 2026. (Eric Brann/U.S. Navy)
Operation Epic Fury has sunk Iran’s largest naval ships, degraded its air defenses and killed many of its top leaders.
It has also laid bare the vulnerabilities of the American presence in the Middle East.
Iran’s retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes saw thousands of drones and missiles fired at U.S. bases and host nations in the Persian Gulf. American radar systems, hangars, warehouses and command centers took heavy fire over the course of six weeks.
The damage to U.S. facilities will take significant resources to repair. But the attacks also raise bigger questions about the future of U.S. military bases and the long-term relationships with host nations, experts say.
Many of the bases had been cleared of U.S. troops before fighting began, and both sides are now in a holding pattern as diplomatic negotiations start and stall. When — and how — U.S. forces resume normal operations in the theater is still unclear.
“So much depends on how this war with Iran ends, or if it ends,” said Will Todman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There are so many questions we don’t have the answers to, and it could go in multiple directions depending on how the other pieces play out.”
Bahrain, a small island nation in the Persian Gulf, sits about 120 miles from the Iranian coast. For about three decades it has hosted the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, as well as units from the Marine Corps and Coast Guard. As of this year, it was home to at least 8,300 American personnel, including service members, civilians and their families.
A Marine stands guard in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in this undated photo. It’s unclear when the U.S. military will return to normal operations in the Middle East as negotiations with Iran continue. (Bobby Yarbrough/U.S. Marine Corps)
The naval base has suffered extensive damage since the start of the war, according to news reports and satellite images. Within hours of the first U.S. attacks, military personnel and residents were running for cover as Iranian drones and missiles pummeled the base, sending clouds of fire and black smoke into the sky.
The attacks prompted one of the largest movements of military families in recent history, with the Pentagon rushing to evacuate dependents and non-essential personnel from the island amid closed airspace and ongoing explosions.
Iran has relied on a Chinese spy satellite to monitor U.S. bases, according to the Financial Times, allowing it to hone in on its targets using high-resolution imagery. Russia is also providing Iran with intelligence about the location and movement of U.S. forces and assets in the Middle East, other reports have said.
Strikes waned as a temporary ceasefire agreement took effect. Stars and Stripes has already reported that the base suffered extensive damage, including hits to NAVCENT headquarters, as well as multiple warehouses and satellite dishes on base. Damage also extended to the barracks and galley, people familiar with the strikes’ aftermath told Stars and Stripes.
Asked about the extent of damage to U.S. bases, a U.S. defense official declined to comment on battle damage assessments.
The kingdom of Bahrain has benefited hugely from the U.S. military presence, Todman said, both in terms of threat deterrence and economic stimulation. It’s unlikely local leaders will call for the closure of the base, but Washington may want to reconsider its positioning. Some observers have suggested Oman, located on the Arabian Sea, may be a better hub for the Navy’s 5th Fleet, he said.
“There’s a question of, what does the U.S. want after this? Do they still think that their military resources are best placed so close to Iran and inside the Gulf? On the western side of the Strait of Hormuz?” Todman said.
Other U.S. bases across the region reportedly sustained damage, despite an arsenal of air defense systems, including Patriot and THAAD missile interceptors.
In Kuwait, Iran struck four U.S. bases, hitting warehouses, runways, radar-protection structures, satellite communications and administrative buildings, according to a recent NBC News report. At Camp Buehring, an Iranian F-5 fighter jet penetrated air defenses, marking the first time an enemy fixed-wing aircraft has struck an American military base in years, NBC reported.
One strike in early March, on a makeshift operations center near Shuaiba, Kuwait, killed six Army soldiers and wounded dozens of others.
Similar attacks have been reported at U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, an attack at Prince Sultan Air Base killed a 26-year-old soldier from Kentucky.
The damage may cause the U.S. to rethink its positioning in the Middle East and its ability to defend against future attacks, said Vali Nasr, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, at a panel earlier this month.
“The U.S. ultimately, not only wasn’t able or willing to defend the Gulf countries, it couldn’t actually really defend itself,” said Nasr. “These bases were damaged beyond what was the expectation that Iranians would do there. So, this whole model that you could put these bases around Iran and be able to defend them at will, is also an issue for the U.S. to sort out.”
The onslaught of attacks has also prompted some in the Gulf region to raise questions about their reliance on the U.S. and the risks of hosting military bases.
A prominent Emirati commentator, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, who has close relationships with the country’s leadership, suggested that the UAE no longer needs America to defend it, noting that the country’s military forces had intercepted thousands of drones and ballistic missiles.
“It is time to think about closing the American bases,” he said in a post on social media. “As they are a burden and not a strategic asset.”
A set of State Department cables, reported by Politico, suggested that the U.S. may be damaging its reputation through the Iran war.
In Bahrain specifically, the cables described concerns among diplomats about public perceptions that the U.S. abandoned Bahrain to focus on protecting Israel. Some pro-Iran social media accounts suggested the military presence had made Bahrain a target, calling for U.S. forces to leave the country, the report said.
Eric Alter, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that Gulf nations are unlikely to push for a closure of U.S. bases, but are likely to seek stronger security agreements.
For decades, Washington and the Gulf Cooperation Council states operated through a kind of shadow alliance, he said, sharing basing, logistics and coordination without any treaty or official public acknowledgment.
Gulf states thought that allowing U.S. forces in their countries would provide a deterrent. That idea has been shattered over the last two months, Alter said. Each nation will have to make its own decisions, but many are sorting through their options, he said.
“The Gulf countries, I think, have been changing what they are thinking,” he said. “They want more from us, and they want something that is more consultative. They want more clarity on security commitments. They want, probably, some economic risk-sharing as well.”
