Reaping the whirlwind 100 oil and ruined US bases shatter Trumps Iran strategy
Reaping the whirlwind: $100 oil and ruined US bases shatter Trump’s Iran strategy
TEHRAN — Iranian armed forces press ahead with sweeping retaliatory operations against American bases and strategic military assets across the West Asia region as the US continues its unprovoked acts of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the execution of new attacks against US targets in Kuwait and Bahrain under the 27th wave of Operation Nasr 2. Deploying advanced heavy attack drones against the US-run Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Iranian forces destroyed a large ammunition depot in a sequence of powerful explosions. The IRGC confirmed that six large accommodation hangars used by US personnel at the base were completely destroyed, three others sustained heavy damage, and numerous US troops were killed or wounded.
The IRGC asserted that Washington has systematically concealed the true scale of its battlefield losses throughout the five-month war. Pointing to the daily evacuation of injured American personnel by medical aircraft to a US military hospital in Germany, the statement called on American news outlets to investigate the actual casualty figures, equipment losses, and war costs that have been hidden from the US public.
In a separate statement, the IRGC confirmed the completion of an earlier operation against an Amazon data center in Bahrain, describing the site as a key intelligence facility supporting the US military. The remaining building at the site was leveled during the latest wave of attacks, following initial cruise missile strikes launched in response to a US attack on Iran's under-construction civilian Dar Khoein nuclear facility. Furthermore, IRGC forces targeted three storage hangars containing ammunition and equipment at the US-run Camp Udairi in Kuwait, setting them ablaze and destroying them, while simultaneously striking and significantly damaging the control tower of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
These latest developments unfold as the US military has conducted air raids across Iran for two weeks, striking civilian infrastructure including bridges and water desalination plants. These illegal acts of aggression have killed more than 50 people and injured over 600 others inside Iran. The renewed onslaught began after Washington abandoned its commitments under the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, which was meant to end hostilities following the US-Israeli war on Iran launched on February 28. The US accepted a ceasefire 39 days after the war due to Iran's effective retaliatory operations and operational control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Denouncing escalating US strikes that recently targeted the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq—resulting in the injury and martyrdom of pilgrims traveling to attend mourning processions for Imam Hussein (AS)—the IRGC highlighted that many US officers have abandoned their primary bases out of fear and are currently directing operations from civilian quarters inside regional cities. Issuing a direct warning to local populations, the IRGC stated: "Since, if such crimes continue, our course of action will be retribution against the criminals, and because many officers and personnel of the invading US military have abandoned their bases out of fear of the fire of the Islamic fighters and are directing their operations from buildings inside cities, we warn all people in countries hosting US forces to immediately move at least 500 meters away from locations being used as the concealed accommodation of American military personnel so that they remain safe."
In a parallel campaign, Iran's Army targeted major US bases in Bahrain and Jordan under Operation Saeqe (Lightning) in response to deadly American aerial assaults. The Army's Public Relations Department confirmed that the 24th phase of the operation utilized Arash kamikaze drones against fuel storage facilities, large equipment warehouses, sheds, and accommodation quarters housing US military personnel at Shaikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain. Iranian drones also struck aircraft shelters, maintenance hangars, and accommodation quarters at Jordan's al-Azraq Air Base. Reaffirming its defensive stance, the Army asserted: “Any action against the legitimate and lawful interests of the Iranian nation and the sacred Islamic Republic establishment will also jeopardize the security and economic interests of other countries in the region.”
In the 25th phase of Operation Saeqe, the Army deployed Arash destruction drones to strike equipment depots at Camp Udairi, troop locations at Camp Doha, and positions at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Emphasizing that its series of drone and missile operations will continue to intensify, the Army added: “The threats of the narcissistic US president only further strengthen the resolve and determination of the nation and the armed forces in confronting the aggressors.”
The tactical realities on the ground demonstrate that the United States completely failed to achieve its strategic objectives during the opening 39 days of war from February 8 to April 7. Far from neutralizing Iran's defense apparatus, Washington's persistent aggression has dragged the American military into a ruinous war of attrition. Recent congressional testimony and economic evaluations highlight that the official Pentagon direct operational war costs have mounted to $37.5 billion, while broader independent fact-checks and comprehensive economic analyses—accounting for base destructions, rapid munition depletion, energy surges, and spillover economic damage—place total cumulative costs well past $100 billion and climbing towards $150 billion for the US economy.
Furthermore, with global crude oil prices breaching the $100 per barrel mark—a direct fallout of Iran maintaining firm control over the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s Ansarullah forces maintaining control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait—the domestic economic strain on Western economies is intensifying rapidly. By continuing to order strikes on civilian infrastructure and ignoring military realities, President Donald Trump is further sinking the United States into an unwinnable conflict, leaving the American public to absorb the staggering financial, economic, and strategic consequences of an unprovoked war.
source: tehrantimes.com