Friday, 20 June 2025

Iran likely to attack US bases in Middle East

More than 40,000 US service members and civilians — as well as billions of dollars in military equipment — are in the Middle East, spread out across bases in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Those working in countries closest to Iran, including Iraq and Kuwait, would conceivably have only minutes to prepare for an incoming Iranian strike. The Hill suggests, President Donald Trump should order the US military to join Israel’s bombing campaign.

Israel, last week unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on Iran that set off the largest conflict ever between the two regional adversaries, with Tehran responding with its own attacks.

Trump has not yet decided on possible US military action against Iran, telling reporters through his top spokesperson that he would make his decision within two weeks.

In response, Iran has threatened to directly attack US forces should they enter Israel’s war campaign, with the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Wednesday, “Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage.” 

Tehran’s threats aren’t idle, as the country has retaliated against Washington in the past, most notably in January 2020, when Trump in his first term ordered an airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

The strike, which happened as Soleimani traveled to Baghdad, prompted a swift response from Iran, which days later hammered Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq and another US base in Erbil with 13 ballistic missiles. While no Americans were killed in the largest ballistic missile attack ever against US forces abroad, more than 100 were later diagnosed and treated for traumatic brain injuries.

Reportedly, Trump is considering using the GBU-57 — known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator or so-called bunker buster bomb — to damage Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, a similar attack from Tehran can’t be ruled out. Iran has the ballistic missiles ready to go, those strikes could happen in less than 15 minutes.

 

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