NEW DELHI, May 7: The Iranian airstrikes on US military bases across West Asia have inflicted a lot more damage than acknowledged by the US Donald Trump administration, satellite imagery released by Iran’s state media showed.
The Iranian claims were corroborated by a Washington Post investigation, which found that Tehran’s attacks damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at US military sites across the West Asia since the war began on February 28. Among the Iranian targets, as identified through satellite imagery analysis, were hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft, and critical radar, communications, and air defence systems across US bases in the West Asia.
The American outlet reported that the scale of the damage was much larger than previously admitted by the US government. Citing US officials, the report said some US bases in the region were rendered too dangerous to staff at normal levels, and commanders moved most of the personnel from these sites out of the range of Iranian fire at the start of the war.
At least seven US service members have been killed in Iranian strikes across West Asia since the start of the war. Of these, six were killed in Kuwait and one in Saudi Arabia. Over 400 other troops have also suffered injuries.
Since mid-March, the satellite imagery of the West Asia has been difficult to acquire, as two major satellite firms, Vantor and Planet Labs, have been complying with the US government’s request to “limit, delay or indefinitely withhold the publication” of imagery of the region while the war is ongoing. The US government is the biggest consumer of satellite imagery. The diktat, issued less than two weeks into the war, has made it difficult or impossible for media to assess Iran’s counter-strikes.
Iranian state media, however, has been regularly publishing high-resolution satellite images of the region on social media since the start of the war. But they received limited coverage over concerns of fabrication. In its investigation, the WaPo reviewed hundreds of these images. It verified the authenticity of 109 of those images by comparing them with lower-resolution imagery from the European Union’s satellite system, as well as high-resolution images from Planet when available.
The investigation found no evidence that any of the Iranian images were manipulated. In total, the report found 217 structures and 11 pieces of equipment were damaged or destroyed at at least 15 US military sites across the region. Experts who reviewed WaPo’s analysis said the damage at the sites suggested that the US military had underestimated Iran’s targeting abilities, not adapted sufficiently to modern drone warfare and left some bases under-protected.
“The Iranian attacks were precise. There are no random craters indicating misses,” experts said. Among the sites that were damaged in Iran’s missile and drone strikes was a satellite communications site at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Patriot missile defence systems at bases in Bahrain and Kuwait were also hit.
The analysis showed a satellite dish at the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain was also damaged. There were also attacks on a power plant at Camp Buehring in Kuwait and fuel storage sites across multiple bases.
(Manas Dasgupta)