WSJ finds 274 structures damaged at U.S.-linked bases during first six months of Iran war

Iranian strikes damaged at least 274 structures across 24 military installations with a U.S. presence during the first six months of the war, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation based on satellite imagery, public footage, Iranian claims and interviews with U.S. officials.

The Journal described its analysis as the most comprehensive public accounting so far of damage to American-linked military facilities across the region.

The Pentagon has internally estimated damage to U.S. bases at no less than $5 billion, according to officials who spoke to the Journal. A separate person briefed on the figures said the total could eventually reach $15 billion.

Those estimates are broader than reconstruction costs alone. The Center for Strategic and International Studies separately estimated that rebuilding damaged structures could exceed $4 billion, excluding equipment and other assets inside the buildings.

The Journal’s methodology identified physical changes at 24 installations using European Union satellite imagery, NASA fire data, videos and photographs after access to high-resolution commercial imagery became more restricted.

Its analysis can show where and roughly when structures were damaged, but not always what caused the damage. Some facilities are also shared with host countries, meaning not every damaged structure can be assumed to be exclusively American.

The Journal said its methodology likely undercounts the full scale of destruction.

Damage intensified in some areas after a July ceasefire collapsed, with Iranian strikes increasingly reaching smaller structures and troop housing. A July 17 attack on Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base killed three U.S. service members and damaged at least 19 buildings.

The base-damage estimates are separate from the Pentagon’s reported $47.1 billion cost for U.S. military operations through Oct. 16, which largely covers munitions, operations and equipment losses.