TEHRAN - Fresh revelations have brought into sharp focus the scale of the military and human toll the United States has suffered from Iran’s retaliatory strikes during the nearly 40-day war that began in late February. 

The administration of President Donald Trump has consistently sought to downplay the impact of Iran’s missile strikes against American bases in Persian Gulf countries. Trump and his War Secretary, Pete Hegseth, have claimed that the United States destroyed Iran’s military capabilities.

At a March 30 Pentagon briefing, Hegseth told reporters that Iranian missiles would not reach their targets. “There is almost nothing they can do about it militarily. Yes, they will still fire some missiles, but we will shoot them down,” he said.

The US has already acknowledged that 13 US forces were killed in the war, and reports confirm that several advanced American aircraft were shot down. Nonetheless, an NBC News report has revealed that the damage inflicted on US military bases and equipment by Iran is far more extensive. 

The reports says Iran carried out strikes against more than 100 targets across 11 US bases in the region.

It also says an Iranian F-5 fighter jet bombed Camp Buehring in Kuwait despite the base’s air defenses, a breach that would mark a major failure at a heavily protected site. Citing two officials, NBC News reported that the incident was “the first time an enemy fixed-wing aircraft has struck an American military base in years.” The report added that a notable number of Iranian missiles managed to penetrate US and allied defense systems, undercutting earlier official assurances.

The NBC report draws on findings from the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, interviews with three American officials, two congressional aides, and another person familiar with the damage.

Earlier, The New York Times reported that the war significantly drained much of the US military’s global stockpile of munitions, forcing the Pentagon to rush bombs, missiles, and other hardware to the Middle East from commands in Asia and Europe.

The NYT report said the US military used about 1,100 JASSM-ER missiles during the 39-day war with Iran, each costing roughly $1.1 million, leaving about 1,500 in its inventory.

It added that the US military fired more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, each costing about $3.6 million—roughly ten times the number it currently purchases annually. The report also said the Pentagon used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles during the war, at more than $4 million each. Overall, it estimated the cost of the US campaign against Iran at up to $35 billion.

Iran carried out retaliatory strikes against American bases in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain in response to the war jointly launched by the US and Israel against the country on February 28.