Several Middle East experts said on Thursday that in response to attacks by United States and Israel, Iran’s counterstrikes have damaged at least a dozen U.S. military installations in the Gulf region so severely that their presence is now creating more risk than benefit, last month The New York Times first reported details about the condition of these bases, stating that many of them had become “nearly uninhabitable,” however the administration of Donald Trump has not officially acknowledged the extent of the damage so far, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, said during a panel that the past seven weeks of conflict have made it clear that Gulf countries can no longer fully rely on the United States for security, and as a result they may turn toward Israel for security cooperation, this crisis of confidence has deepened further because the recent ceasefire agreement did not explicitly include any provision to halt Iran’s attacks on U.S.-linked installations in Gulf countries, creating a sense of betrayal among many in the region, Parsi said those bases failed to deter Iranian attacks and instead became targets themselves, effectively shattering reliance on America’s security umbrella, according to him one possible outcome could be that Gulf states, unable to reach an understanding with Iran, may move closer to Israel, and he added that they might even attempt to build new ties with Israel without any U.S. concessions similar to the 2020 Abraham Accords.
US bases in Gulf region virtually ‘useless’ after Iran attack, experts say
