According to the acting secretary of the US Navy, Hung Cao, a Bahrain-based United States military installation has been severely damaged during recent months of fighting with Iran, leading to an ongoing assessment of its future. The comments were made in an interview with The Epoch Times on Wednesday.

US Admits Extent of Damage

“They blew the hell out of Bahrain,” Cao said, in a rare official admission of the impact of the conflict on a key U.S. facility — the statement comes as tensions in the Gulf have escalated six months into the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran.

A response from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi followed Cao’s comments. Araghchi expressed appreciation for the candor of the U.S. official and claimed that Iran’s Armed Forces had indeed “blown the hell out of the 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain,” along with other bases that support U.S. operations.

Repeated Attacks on US Bases

US bases across the Middle East have been repeatedly targeted by Iran — On Tuesday, Iranian strikes hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan — known as Al-Azraq, damaging multiple U.S. military aircraft.

Imagery from open sources indicates that the Naval Support Activity (NSA) base in Bahrain suffered heavy damage in retaliatory strikes after the U.S. and Israel launched air attacks across Iran in late February. Between February and June, the base was repeatedly targeted, according to reports.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed satellite imagery, social media footage, and conducted interviews with service members, concluding that Iranian strikes caused extensive damage not immediately acknowledged by the Pentagon.

The command centre at the base and at least a dozen other buildings within the facility were hit hard, according to the investigation, as Cao stated the Navy is currently evaluating the future of the base, including the possibility of repairs. “I have a task force that’s looking at that,” he said in the interview.

Admiral Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s most senior uniformed officer, earlier this month noted that the NSA Bahrain would not resume service “anytime soon” due to the damage it had sustained.

Impact on US Naval Operations

Cao also mentioned that the damage to the base affected operations involving the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which left the crew with “no place for them to pull in.”

The nearly nine-month deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East has led to a mental health crisis among the crew, with some sailors reportedly attempting to jump overboard, according to U.S. media reports. The ship finally docked at Laem Chabang, Thailand, earlier this month.

The NSA Bahrain, before being damaged, was the home of the U.S; Fifth Fleet and the US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), serving as the Navy’s main logistics hub in the Middle East. The base, located in Juffair near the capital, Manama, was described by U.S. news outlets as the nerve centre of U.S. naval operations in the region.

Iran’s Islamic Major Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it launched “devastating” missile strikes on U.S. forces stationed at the Al-Azraq base in Jordan. According to the IRGC, the missiles struck the maintenance, preparation, and deployment sites of F-35, F-16, and F-15 fighter jets and their shelters, causing heavy damage.

The Jordanian Armed Forces reported that 18 of 20 missiles were intercepted, with two falling in open areas, and U.S. forces fired about 30 Patriot interceptor missiles in response to the strikes. Despite this, multiple U.S. military aircraft were damaged, though One A-10 Thunderbolt, known as the Warthog, was struck and lost a wing, according to CBS News, citing anonymous sources. Eight F-15s sustained light damage and were returned to service.

The Iranian strike on the base in Jordan followed the U.S. attacking five Iranian tankers in and around the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for Iran targeting a U.S. Navy warship.

The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, located nearly 100km northeast of Amman, is an important asset for the U.S. due to its two runways, it is named after a Jordanian pilot, Lieutenant Muwaffaq Salti, who died in combat with Israel in 1966.

Iran has claimed to have struck the Al-Azraq base more than 10 times between March and September; On June 10, the IRGC said its long-range missiles destroyed several targets, including hangars and command centres. Authorities in the targeted countries stated all projectiles were intercepted without casualties.

On July 17, Iran claimed to have hit U.S. military aircraft stationed at the Al-Azraq base with ballistic missiles and drones, destroying several refuelling aircraft and fighter jets. US Central Command (CENTCOM) later confirmed that two U.S. service members were killed in the attack, with one missing and four injured.

According to a May report from the U.S; Congressional Research Service, 42 U.S. military aircraft had already been lost or damaged in the conflict by that time. Since the war began in February, 18 U.S. service members have been killed, and more than 800 have been injured.

Iran has targeted key U.S. facilities in eight countries in the Middle East since the start of the war; Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei claimed the Middle East was no longer a “safe place” for U.S. bases.

Images and videos analyzed by the BBC in June showed that Iran had damaged at least 20 U.S. military sites since the start of the war, causing millions of dollars in damage. Iranian strikes heavily hit U.S. refuelling and surveillance aircraft at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, as well as fuel storage bunkers, aircraft hangars, and troop accommodation at the Ali Al Salem Airbase and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, according to the BBC report.

Three state-of-the-art anti-ballistic missile battery systems, each costing about $1bn to manufacture, were also damaged at the Al Ruwais and Al Sader airbases in the UAE and Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan.