While the US would not admit this, Iranian strikes on its West Asia installations since the war started, something very arduously kept a closely guarded secret, have forced American military personnel to shift to hotels and office spaces, some from as far as Europe, reported The New York Times.
Going by the NYT reportage, US military is fighting the war, though “working remotely”, while only fighter plane crew, pilots included, are operating are the ones on ground.
The NYT also reported that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was prodding people to report these new locations from where the US military personnel were operating so as to strike them.
In response to the US and Israeli strikes on February 28, Iran responded strongly by hitting American bases and other assets in several Gulf countries with missiles and drones. Even embassies were targeted.
At least six US service members were killed in Iranian strikes on a port in Kuwait during the initial days of the war.
Iran also reportedly hit a US F-35 fighter jet but Washington said the aircraft made an emergency landing. Tehran has also claimed to have struck another US war plane – an F-18 but Washington has not confirmed yet.
In the latest Iranian offensive, the IRGC has launched a new wave of strikes on US and Israeli targets in the region on Thursday.
Reports indicate that the strikes targeted specific US interests in the al-Kharj and Arifjan districts of Saudi Arabia, alongside the US Defence Logistics Site (KGL) and Patriot radar systems located in Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa region.
Furthermore, a large swarm of kamikaze drones reportedly devastated support fuel depots belonging to the US military. Other targets included a hangar for MQ-9 Reaper combat drones, a hangar for P8 surveillance aircraft, and a satellite communications dish for drones situated at the Ali al-Salem airbase.
The Iranian Armed Forces maintain that their operations against American bases are a direct and necessary retaliatory response.