Disgruntled troops leak PHOTOS of extensive damage to US bases from Iranian strikes US troops have leaked new images to CBS News capturing widespread destruction at American military bases across the Middle East from Iran’s missile and drone attacks.
The servicemen who provided the photos chose to stay anonymous because of harsh media restrictions in the US military, the outlet said in an article on Tuesday. “This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,” one of the soldiers stationed in the region said.
The service member complained about insufficient air defenses at the US facilities, saying “we’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.” The Iranian munitions that are getting through are “not ‘squirters’” as US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called them after six American troops were killed in a strike on a US military tactical operations center at the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait in early March, the soldier stressed.
“We’re not defending these bases. We’re just watching them get destroyed.” 🚨🇺🇸 🇮🇷 BREAKING: Troops leaked photos of their wrecked bases to CBS, saying they're "standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face"— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 15, 2026 Active service members sent the images anonymously.
One soldier's words: "We're not defending these bases. We're just watching… pic.twitter.com/zvxEyxB8wm CBS News said that the photos it had received showed a $300 million US E-3 Sentry radar plane destroyed by a direct hit at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia as well as damaged buildings and burnt-out vehicles at Camp Buehring and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.
Earlier this week, the US War Department’s inspector general issued a report, saying that the American forces have suffered $3.7 billion in equipment losses, including almost 60 aircraft, during the war against Iran, which started in late February with a US-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic.
American bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan were hit, with hundreds of buildings and structures being damaged or destroyed, according to the inspector. Last week, the acting secretary of the US Navy, Hung Cao, told the Epoch Times that Iran “blew the hell out of Bahrain,” referring to the attacks on the American military facilities in the Gulf country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to the acknowledgment in a post on X, saying that “our powerful Armed Forces did indeed ‘blow the hell out of the 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain,’ as well as other bases supporting US aggression.” In early September, Iranian Parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that further aggressive actions by the US will be met with “faster, heavier and more painful” retaliation by Tehran.
“The Americans have surely understood that the era of proportionate responses has come to an end and our recent strikes against aggressor bases were only a start,” Ghalibaf said.