US Military Bases in Gulf Rendered 'Useless' by Iranian Strikes, Experts Warn

At least a dozen US military sites across the Gulf region have been so badly damaged by Iranian missile strikes that experts now consider them "all but uninhabitable." These bases, long seen as pillars of American military primacy in the Middle East, have been transformed into liabilities, vulnerable targets rather than secure hubs, according to a panel of Middle East specialists speaking at the Arab Center Washington DC’s annual conference.

Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science at George Washington University, bluntly stated, "This is the physical architecture of American primacy, and Iran has essentially rendered it useless in the span of a month." He criticized the Trump administration for its silence on the true scale of the damage, warning that the US government is not providing "full and accurate reporting."

The affected bases span several Gulf states—Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman—all of which have imposed strict controls on access and media coverage of missile attacks. This censorship fuels speculation that Gulf states and the Pentagon are trying to conceal the vulnerability of these sites, some of which house thousands of US troops, including the critical Naval Support Activity Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Experts argue that the longstanding transactional relationship—US protection in exchange for Gulf oil and financial support—is fraying. Shana R Marshall of George Washington University pointed out that the Gulf states have suffered heavily from the conflict, with depleted missile defenses, disrupted infrastructure, and direct hits to energy facilities. "Close relations with the US, whether military or economic, are less a benefit now than actually a liability," she said.

This erosion of trust in the US security umbrella has left Gulf leaders reconsidering their alliances. Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft noted that the recent ceasefire did not explicitly halt Iranian attacks on US-adjacent assets, deepening Gulf states’ sense of betrayal. He suggested that some Gulf nations might pivot toward Israel as a new security partner, even without the kind of US-driven concessions that shaped the Abraham Accords.

The consequences for US foreign policy are stark. The Gulf’s rejection of American military primacy signals a major strategic setback for the Trump administration’s aggressive posture toward Iran. What was once a network of secure bases enabling US influence is now a patchwork of exposed and contested sites, undermining Washington’s ability to project power and maintain regional stability.

As Iran’s strikes continue to reshape the balance of power, the Trump administration’s failure to acknowledge or address the damage to its Gulf military infrastructure reveals a dangerous disconnect between rhetoric and reality. The era of unquestioned US dominance in the Middle East may be coming to an abrupt and costly end.