US weighs shifting Gulf bases after strikes

• May move some military assets in Middle East farther west, potentially to Israel
• Fifth Fleet HQ in Bahrain among most affected sites, says WSJ
• Estimates suggest $5bn damage across 11 US military installations

WASHINGTON: The United States is weighing the relocation of parts of its military footprint in the Middle East further westward, potentially to Israel, as Iranian missile and drone strikes expose serious vulnerabilities in forward-deployed bases across the Gulf, according to media and think tank assessments.

The reported strikes, which followed the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran on Feb 28, are said to have hit multiple American and allied military installations across the region. The attacks are reported to have killed 13 service members and wounded hundreds, although a comprehensive accounting of casualties and damage has not yet been made public.

According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the most significant sites affected was Naval Support Activity (NSA) in Bahrain, the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, located approximately 240 kilometres south of Iran.

The base sustained damage to a range of facilities, including the Fifth Fleet headquarters building, barracks, warehouses and a potable water tank. Estimates cited in reporting place damage to the installation at around $400 million, with portions of the destruction not fully acknowledged publicly by the Pentagon.

The strikes have triggered internal deliberations within the US administration over whether to significantly reshape its military posture in the Gulf. US officials cited in reporting say options under consideration include relocating key command centres underground at NSA Bahrain, reinforcing hardened facilities, and in some cases opting not to rebuild certain damaged structures.

Washington is also reassessing its presence in other Gulf states, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, with discussions under way about shifting certain military assets further west.

One location being examined in early-stage planning is Israel, where US military aircraft have reportedly been stationed at Ben Gurion Airport since the build-up to the conflict, the Journal reported. Independent assessments of the damage vary but point in the same direction: significant disruption to US military infrastructure across the region.

The American Enterprise Institute estimates that Iranian strikes caused roughly $5 billion in damage across 70 structures at 11 US military installations in seven countries.

Its report argues that the scale and spread of the damage may force not only extensive rebuilding, but also selective abandonment or relocation of vulnerable facilities, given the growing risks posed by sustained missile and drone warfare against fixed bases.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026