A Wall Street Journal investigation reveals that damage to the U.S. Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain from Iranian strikes between late February and June is far more extensive than previously reported. Direct hits were sustained by the command headquarters, satellite communications facilities, warehouses, and residential buildings, with some rendered unusable. Reconstruction costs are estimated at $400 million and expected to rise significantly, according to the report.
A Wall Street Journal investigation published Friday morning (June 26) estimates that reconstruction costs for the U.S. Fifth Fleet base at Naval Support Activity Bahrain will reach at least $400 million, with the final figure expected to climb substantially higher. The report details direct hits to the command headquarters, satellite communications facilities, warehouses, and residential buildings — some of which are now unusable. This assessment follows a string of Iranian strikes on the base between late February and June, as The Zioneer has reported across multiple updates since Wednesday of last week.
The desk first reported on the damage chain on Wednesday, June 10, at 04:37 Jerusalem, when footage from Manama appeared to verify an Iranian missile directly hitting Naval Support Activity Bahrain amid a multi-wave barrage of 19 explosions. Later that same day, at 05:29 Jerusalem, exclusive footage from a closer angle added visual detail to the attack. On Thursday, June 11, at 10:11 Jerusalem, the IRGC named five specific allied bases — including the Bahrain facility — as targets in a retaliatory wave. On Saturday, June 13, at 03:19 Jerusalem, satellite imagery confirmed that an Iranian drone strike had destroyed a U.S. radar site on Jabal ad Dukhan in Bahrain. The first WSJ investigation estimate appeared in the thread on Friday at 06:46 Jerusalem, with all three subsequent bulletin versions published within minutes of each other that same morning, each adding further damage details.
As The Zioneer reported on Wednesday, June 24, the U.S. defense establishment's campaign against Iran has already cost $40 billion, with the Pentagon requesting an additional $80 billion from Congress. The sustained damage to the Bahrain base has prompted the Pentagon to reassess its force posture across the Middle East and to weigh relocating some assets to Israel, as the desk noted in earlier context.
The WSJ investigation does not specify whether new sources or additional damage assessments are behind the revised cost estimate. Casualty figures and the operational status of units previously stationed at the base remain unverified in this latest account.
4 developments
- ConfirmedNew footage shows explosion at US 5th Fleet base in Bahrain from closer angle
- StrongIRGC claims attack on US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as exchanges continue
- DevelopingUS denies Bahrain naval base hit; Iran claims attacks
- DevelopingIRGC says it struck US Fifth Fleet HQ in Bahrain with suicide drones
Source and signal
- Internal intake