“Our bases in the Gulf were damaged and the missiles decreased.” Details of the first official inventory of the US Army’s losses during the Iran War

The official oversight body at the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) issued a special report, on Monday, on the war on Iran, which represents the ministry’s first official inventory of the losses inflicted on American equipment and installations as a result of this conflict. The Inspector General stated - based on his communication with the US Central Command (Centcom) - that “Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and facilities at American bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan” during the first months of the war.

The report - which covers the period from the beginning of the war on February 28 to June 30 - also acknowledged the depletion of major stocks of American ammunition. Sources previously reported to Ufoq News Network that vital American assets, such as missile defense radar facilities, were destroyed in the first days of the war.

The report indicated that these Iranian strikes contributed to fundamental changes in the traditional methods of operation of American forces in the region. The Central Command "moved personnel, assets, and storage facilities" after being subjected to attacks by Iran and its loyal forces. Some of these movements included the withdrawal of Army medical evacuation helicopters from Iraq and Kuwait, meaning that "most medical evacuations were conducted overland to local treatment facilities."

The watchdog said the destruction of the Regional Naval Center in Bahrain - which Acting Navy Secretary Hong Cao recently said had been completely destroyed by Iran - exacerbated "significant challenges" in establishing "adequate naval bases and support ports", and resulted in the remote island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean becoming a maritime logistics hub, extending resupply cycles to between 14 and 18 days. Intermittent supply shortages and disruption of the regional military mail system - resulting from these developments - have increased the difficulties faced by American sailors during record-length deployments in the Gulf in support of air strikes on Iran and the imposition of a blockade of its ports in recent months.

Changes in the US military presence in the Middle East may become permanent; Military officials and the intelligence community have quietly discussed the possibility of permanent reductions in US personnel and facilities in the region when the war eventually ends, six sources told Ofoq News earlier. The report, which was prepared in cooperation with the offices of the Inspector General of the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, also addressed US diplomatic activities in the region.

The report indicated that the damage Iran inflicted on American diplomatic facilities in the Middle East amounted to about $184 million (noting that the report did not include estimates of the cost of damage to American military sites). As Ofoq News sources reported, during the months of intense fighting, these facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were subjected to attacks by Iran and its proxies.

In early March, the US Embassy in Riyadh was attacked by two Iranian drones, resulting in severe damage, which also affected the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) office located inside the embassy complex. Also in early March, a drone targeted the US Consulate in Dubai, damaging a services and facilities building, according to the report.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time that the drone hit "a parking lot adjacent to the main consulate building." The US Embassy in Kuwait also suspended its operations completely in March after suffering strikes and damage caused by Iranian drones, and then resumed providing emergency services to American citizens in late June.

A senior State Department official stated in May that US facilities in Iraq had been subjected to more than 600 attacks; These attacks were the most costly in terms of material damage, amounting to about $157 million. According to the report, up to 3,500 diplomatic personnel left the region between February 23 and June 30, with the majority of US diplomatic missions subject to “authorized departure” or “mandatory departure” decisions.

Within weeks of the outbreak of war in February, with US diplomatic facilities across the region under attack, the department issued a “mandatory departure” from Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, meaning that non-emergency personnel and all family members were required to leave, while “authorized departure” meant that nonessential personnel had the option to leave. Most diplomatic missions are still operating under a “restricted operations” regime - a situation that does not mean a return to normal staffing levels, but rather applies 6 months after the start of the “mandatory departure”, and some diplomats and some family members have begun to return to the region.