Where U.S. Military Facilities Are in the Middle East

The United States launched an attack on Iran on Sunday, targeting three nuclear sites. The attack marks an escalation in the war between Iran and Israel, pulling the U.S. directly into the conflict. It is unknown how Tehran will respond, with world leaders calling for de-escalation and diplomacy. 

According to analysts, one of the possible next scenarios is that Iran retaliates with an attack on U.S. bases in the region. As The Conversation recalls, this is what happened in 2020, when Tehran launched missiles at two bases in Iraq after the U.S. killed the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani. It caused no U.S. fatalities.

The Pentagon states that the U.S. currently has around 40,000 active-duty troops and Defense Department civilians stationed in the Middle East. According to data published by the Congressional Research Service, as of July 10, 2024, personnel were based across Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. 

The largest U.S. military site in the region is the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, with some 10,000 troops stationed there, according to Reuters. It is one of the 8 so-called persistent U.S. military bases, which means that it has been continuously used by the U.S. Department of Defense for at least 15 years, with the U.S. military exercising at least some degree of operational control there. These permanent bases tend to be the DOD’s largest and most well-known. 

Also marked on this infographic are 11 other selected U.S. military sites. According to the Congressional Research Service, these sites do not meet the persistent bases’ criteria but are places where the DOD maintains some sort of territorially linked presence or access. This data is based on unclassified sources and does not include all facilities in the region, including temporary sites, which the U.S. military may use for exercises or contingency operations without planning on turning them into persistent sites. 

Other possibles scenario put forward are cyberattacks or the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, which could send oil prices skyrocketing. 

The UN has called for civilian protection and respect for human rights, stating that hundreds of civilians, including women and children, have been killed since the conflict began with Israeli air strikes on June 13.