What has Iran hit so far?

A quick overview of what we know Iran has actually hit in this war — and the strategy that appears to be emerging.

Satellite imagery, official statements, and open-source analysis suggest strikes on at least 17 installations, including 11 US military bases, along with key air defence sensors, aircraft, and communications infrastructure.

• sensor blindness: striking radars and air defence nodes;
• operational logistics: targeting refuelling aircraft, ports, and staging bases;
• command networks:  damaging communications infrastructure and radars; and
• economic pressure: threatening shipping and energy transport in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has adopted the Decentralized Mosaic Defence doctrine (DMD) which has scattered its forces and weapons into 31 autonomous cells. The plan is not to defeat the US, but to fight a war of attrition and make the conflict as expensive and longwinded as possible, waiting for political pressure to build and eventually force the US to withdraw.

With midterm elections looming in November, US President Donald Trump has until the start of the summer to conclude this war or else he and the Republican party will be damaged at the polls. Tehran’s timeline is open-ended.

Tactics are also clear: launch a high tempo retaliation in the first few days that is not designed to defeat US-Israeli forces, or even to do much damage, but simple use Iran’s large stock of very cheap drones to run down the coalition’s stock of very expensive air defence systems in a “command of the reload” strategy.

In the first three days of Operation Epic Fury Israel used up half of its Patriot interceptor and Arrow system stocks. The Gulf state allies used even more. Iran is taking advantage of its superior cost-to-kill ratio advantage.

At the same time, Iran used its best and most accurate missiles to target US radar systems in the region and also hit bombers and jet fighters parked on the tarmac of US bases across the region, not only to deplete the US ability to retaliate, but also simply to increase the size of the bill. Analysts estimate that just the first three days of the war cost the US $20bn and it is now running at around $1bn a day.

Iran has been aided in this effort by upgrading its drone technology with lessons learnt from last year’s 12-day war with Israel as well as swapping from the US GPS system to using China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system which has improved Iranian missile accuracy and its ability to flummox the coalition electronic warfare countermeasures. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has already admitted that the Pentagon underestimated the power and capabilities of Iran’s drones and missiles.

Across the region, Iran has struck at least 11 US bases and roughly 17 installations according to reports:

In Kuwait: strikes hit Ali Al Salem Air Base, Camp Buehring, Camp Arifjan, and the Shuaiba port facility, damaging logistics infrastructure, communications radomes, and personnel facilities at key US staging hubs.

In Saudi Arabia: Iran struck Prince Sultan Air Base, damaging radar installations associated with missile defence and hitting five KC-135 aerial refuelling tankers on the ground, a critical enabler of US long-range air operations.

In Qatar: a strike damaged the AN/FPS-132 early-warning radar at Al Udeid Air Base, a $1+bn system that provides missile detection coverage across much of the region.

In Bahrain: Iranian strikes damaged satellite communications terminals and radar infrastructure at the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters, a key command node for US naval operations in the Gulf.

In the UAE: Iran struck Al Dhafra Air Base and the logistics hub at Jebel Ali port, while also hitting facilities associated with THAAD missile defence radar sites near Ruwais and Sader, part of the region’s integrated air defence network.

In Jordan: a strike at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base destroyed or severely damaged an AN/TPY-2 radar used by the THAAD missile defence system, one of the most important sensors used to track and guide interceptor missiles against ballistic threats.

In Iraq: Iran targeted Erbil Air Base and facilities at Erbil International Airport, as well as Harir Air Base and coalition installations near Baghdad’s Victory Base complex. Iranian strikes also hit the US consulate compound in Erbil and the US embassy compound in Baghdad, while attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan targeted Kurdish military headquarters and communications sites.

In Israel: determining the full extent of damage is difficult due to strict military censorship and limited satellite imagery. Iranian officials claim strikes on energy and military infrastructure. Open-source footage confirms at least some successful hits, including a Hezbollah strike on a satellite communications facility near Beit Shemesh — part of Israel’s ground infrastructure for military and intelligence satellite communications.