How Iran Devastated an American Naval Base in the Middle East

Summary

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WSJ What’s News

Episode Summary: How Iran Devastated an American Naval Base in the Middle East

Date: June 26, 2026
Host: Alex Osoleff (The Wall Street Journal)
Guest: Shelby Holiday, WSJ Senior Video and National Security Correspondent

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on a bombshell Wall Street Journal analysis revealing the significant extent of damage Iran inflicted on the U.S. naval base in Bahrain—America’s only naval base in the Middle East—during the recent conflict. The episode explores the ramifications for U.S. presence in the region, Pentagon silence on damages, and the advanced warfare capabilities Iran demonstrated. Further segments briefly cover news on OpenAI, Polymarket investigations, Volkswagen job cuts, and other top business and tech headlines.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Iran’s Missile and Drone Assault on U.S. Bases

• Intensity of Attack:

  • “Iran fired more than 8,000 missiles and drones during the conflict. Some of those missiles and drones got through US air defenses and hit US bases, including the base in Bahrain. And when they did hit, they were very precise.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 07:44

• Impacts on Bahrain Base:

  • Hits targeted two satellite communications terminals and about a dozen buildings.

• Casualties:

  • “Nobody died on the base. But across the Middle East, there were injuries. And two of the strikes, one in Kuwait and one in Saudi, did result in American casualties.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 07:58

2. Unreported Damage and Pentagon Reticence

• Lack of Acknowledgment:

  • “The Pentagon hasn't publicly acknowledged [the] damage to America's only naval base in the Middle East.”
    — Alex Osoleff, 07:13

• Investigative Approach:

  • WSJ leveraged satellite imagery, open-source photos, and social media videos, working around restrictions.
  • “During the war, the US pressed commercial satellite imagery providers to restrict access to imagery of the Middle East... So the whole battlefield has been very hard to see.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 08:30

• Pentagon Response:

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, when pressed on financial cost:
    • “What is the cost of Iran getting a nuclear weapon?”
      — Paraphrased by Shelby Holiday, 09:18

3. Estimated Damages and Costs

• WSJ Estimate:
  • “We ourselves crunched some numbers, and using a publicly available Defense Department cost model and procurement records, we estimated that the cost of constructing the buildings alone, the buildings that were hit, was about $400 million.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 09:31
• Congress Demanding Transparency:
  • Congress is frustrated by the Pentagon’s lack of detail, pressing for more information about cost and extent.

4. Strategic Implications for U.S. Presence

• Rethinking Base Design:

  • “Many of these bases across the Middle East were constructed in an era when Iran didn't have this arsenal of missiles and drones that it has today.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 09:59
  • Suggestions include “command and control nodes being buried underground so that Iran doesn't have this easy target.”

• Evolving Policy:

  • U.S. military is evaluating options, and decisions about base structure and presence will depend on the ongoing conflict and negotiations.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Precision of Iranian Strikes:

  • “When they did hit, they were very precise.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 07:49

• On Satellite Imagery Restrictions:

  • “During the war, the US pressed commercial satellite imagery providers to restrict access to imagery of the Middle East. That includes US bases, but also Iran. So the whole battlefield has been very hard to see.”
    — Shelby Holiday, 08:30

• On U.S. Strategic Dilemma:

  • “What is the cost of Iran getting a nuclear weapon?”
    — Shelby Holiday quoting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, 09:18

• On Future U.S. Base Design:

  • “Some of the sources we've talked to said you could easily see command and control nodes being buried underground so that Iran doesn't have this easy target that it can send a drone to.” — Shelby Holiday, 10:13

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:33 – Headlines: OpenAI access restricted; Iran’s attack on U.S. naval base introduced
• 07:10 – Start of deep dive into Iran’s attack on the Bahrain base
• 07:44 – Overview of missile and drone strikes, precision, and impact
• 08:30 – WSJ's investigative reporting methods and satellite imagery challenges
• 09:05 – Estimated costs, Pentagon silence, congressional frustration
• 09:59 – Why the U.S. is rethinking its Middle East footprint
• 10:42 – Future base plans, U.S. options and evolving threats

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Additional Relevant News (Brief Mentions)

• Polymarket Investigation (02:24): Lawmakers urge probe into fake bet promotions.
• OpenAI & U.S. Policy (02:51): GPT 5.6 rollout limited amid national security debates.
• Volkswagen Overhaul (04:16): Facing job cuts as global competition intensifies.
• Market Wrap (04:55): NASDAQ falls for fifth straight week; S&P down, Dow slightly up.

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Tone & Style

The tone is factual, urgent, and direct, consistent with reputable daily news analysis. Shelby Holiday provides in-depth, data-driven commentary, while Alex Osoleff maintains brisk transitions and a clear framing of each headline.

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Conclusion

This episode exposes the scale of Iranian strikes on a key U.S. naval asset, the Pentagon’s silence, and the tactical evolution forced upon American military planning in the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal’s reporting—melding satellite analysis and open-source data—highlights increasingly precarious conditions for longstanding U.S. military strategy in the region, at a moment when American policymakers are rethinking both costs and concepts of military footprint.

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Transcript

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[Alex Osoleff]

OpenAI limits access to its newest models, citing the US government's concerns about its security. Plus, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows that Iran's attacks on an American naval base caused extensive damage, pushing the US to reconsider its presence in the region.

[Shelby Holiday]

This was a very high intensity war. Iran fired more than 8,000 missiles and drones during the conflict. Some of those missiles and drones got through US Aircra air defenses and hit US bases, including the base in Bahrain. And when they did hit, they were

[Alex Osoleff]

very precise and want to skip the line. Our travel columnist tried out the TSA's latest experiment to cut down on time spent at airport security. It's Friday, June 26th. I'm Alex Osoleff for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world. This just in. The U.S. has launched a fresh attack on Iran. U.S. central Command said the strikes hit Iranian drone storage locations and coastal radar sites and are in response to the attack Iran launched yesterday on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, President Trump said Iran violated the ceasefire with that attack. It's the latest sign that the fragile ceasefire between the two countries is breaking apart. For more on this developing news, head to WSJ.com and later in this program, we'll have more on Iran's ability to hit U.S. assets in the region. Two U.S. senators are calling for a federal investigation into Polymarket. Utah Republican John Curtis and California Democrat Adam Schiff sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's chairman yesterday. They're asking regulators to probe Polymarket's social media promotion of fake bets. That comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on the prediction market's deceptive marketing practices, reporter Caitlin Ostroff told our Tech News Briefing podcast earlier this week about what the Journal Our reporting found that

[Caitlin Ostroff]

polymarket paid people to create videos where they show these trades, where they show themselves betting on the platform, but that Polymarket One directed them not to disclose that they were being paid by Polymarket. After we reached out about Polymarket's marketing techniques, the creators began disclosing that they were polymarket partners. But also we found that all of the trades placed in these videos created by these creators, none of them were actually on polymarket's website.

[Alex Osoleff]

The Journal has learned that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is in the midst of a continuing investigation into polymarket. The investigation hasn't been previously reported. A polymarket spokesperson declined to comment on the letter and the investigation. And we should note that polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal. The Journal used only publicly available data for its analysis. In other tech news, OpenAI has released its latest models under the umbrella name of GPT 5.6, but for now they're only being made available to a small group of customers approved by the Trump administration in light of discussions between OpenAI and the White House. That's coincided with the Trump administration ban on foreigners accessing two of Anthropic's newest models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. OpenAI said that it hoped to make GPT 5.6 generally available in the coming weeks. It also warned that the recent trend of the White House restricting industry activity on national security grounds shouldn't become the norm. Turning to Europe, German carmaker Volkswagen is working on a radical overhaul of its business. It's likely to result in thousands of additional job losses beyond the 50,000 already agreed with unions. Volkswagen said today that the move is an effort to make the company more efficient and comes at a difficult moment in its business. WSJ European autos reporter Stephen Wilmot told me about the challenges pushing Volkswagen to make these changes.

[Stephen Wilmot]

They're getting hit on all sides, really. Their North American business has really been challenged by tariffs that President Trump introduced last year. Meanwhile, they've been losing market share quite rapidly in China, where they were the market leader for decades because local companies such as BYD and Geely are rapidly taking market share. And now their European market is also coming under strain as the Chinese automakers have been making further inroads. And Tesla's also been rebounding. So it's a whole host of things, and that's led their management team to decide that they really do need a fresh plan on top of all of the restructuring they've already done.

[Alex Osoleff]

In a statement, bosses at Volkswagen's union said that they would do everything in their power to fight the overhaul plans if they were pursued. As reported, US Indexes were down a bit in afternoon trading. The Nasdaq led the losses closing down about a quarter of a percent, its fifth straight decline for the week. The Nasdaq and the S and P both suffered losses, dropping 4.6% and 2%, respectively. The Dow managed to eke out a small gain of 0.6% for the week. John Bolton pleaded guilty today to mishandling classified information when he collected notes for a memoir that painted an unflattering portrait of President Trump. Bolton, who's 77, was a national security adviser to the president during his first term. Bolton agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors. He'll also pay a more than $2 million fine and could receive up to five years in prison at a sentencing later this year. The plea is arguably the most significant win in President Trump's effort to prosecute his perceived political enemies. Separately, the president is threatening to increase tariffs on European nations if they follow through on new taxes on US Tech companies. He said on social media that any country that imposes a digital services tax quote will immediately be met with a 100% tariff. For years, European countries have considered imposing taxes on big tech firms like Amazon and Meta. Some, such as France, already have them. Coming up, our investigation into the extent of the damage Iran has dealt to the US only naval base in the Middle East. That's after the break.

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[Alex Osoleff]

The US's naval base in Bahrain has anchored American naval power in the Middle east for more than three decades, and it was repeatedly targeted over the past few months of war with Iran. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that strikes caused extensive damage, which the Pentagon hasn't publicly acknowledged. The damage to America's only naval base in the Middle east has the US reevaluating its entire footprint in the region. For more, I'm joined now by WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holiday. Shelby, let's start with what we know about these strikes. How many were there and what kind of damage did they inflict?

[Shelby Holiday]

This was a very high intensity war, and Iran fired more than 8,000 missiles and drones during the conflict. Some of those missiles and drones got through US air defenses and hit US bases, including the base in Bahrain. And when they did hit, they were very precise. The hits at the Bahrain facility in particular were looking at two satellite communications terminals and about a dozen buildings Central Command, which oversees the war, said that the US Rightfully prioritized the safety of people over buildings. And they pointed to this fact that nobody died on the base. But across the Middle east, there were injuries. And two of the strikes, one in Kuwait and one in Saudi, did result in American casualties.

[Alex Osoleff]

The military hasn't publicly acknowledged this damage to the base in Bahrain. So how does the Journal know what was the reporting for this like?

[Shelby Holiday]

We put together a huge analysis of satellite imagery and also some social media videos and open source photos we were able to find, and we basically matched them all up. To get a better idea of what was hit on the base. During the war, the US Pressed commercial satellite imagery providers to restrict access to imagery of the Middle east. That includes US Bases, but also Iran. So the whole battlefield has been very hard to see. US Officials have said that these restrictions have helped protect American troops.

[Alex Osoleff]

Going back to the extent of the damage for a second. I mean, do we have a ballpark estimate of how much it cost?

[Shelby Holiday]

There are different estimates floating out there. Congress is very frustrated with the Pentagon because the Pentagon hasn't given a number for how expensive the damage is at the Bahrain facility. And when we reached out to them for comment, they referred us to remarks made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before Congress pressed on what the cost of the damage is. He responded by saying, what is the cost of Iran getting a nuclear weapon? So that was the Pentagon's response. We ourselves crunched some numbers, and using a publicly available Defense Department cost model and procurement records, we estimated that the cost of constructing the buildings alone, the buildings that were hit, was about $400 million. Congress is certainly pressing the Pentagon for more information about the damage and how much it will cost to rebuild these bases. And that is a number that I think everyone's going to be focused on in the near future.

[Alex Osoleff]

Why is this all enough to make the US Reconsider its presence in Bahrain?

[Shelby Holiday]

Many of these bases across the Middle east were constructed in an era when Iran didn't have this arsenal of missiles and drones that it has today. And so what the US Is doing now is looking at the base footprint and saying, what do we need in the future? How do we adapt? Some of the sources we've talked to said you could easily see command and control nodes being buried underground so that Iran doesn't have this easy target that it can send a drone to. So I think the US now has this chance to reimagine what their footprint looks like. Officials we talked to said no decisions have been made. They are developing a number of options. But a lot of what these bases will look like in the future largely depends on how this conflict ends and how negotiations play out.

[Alex Osoleff]

That was WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holiday. Thank you, Shelby.

[Shelby Holiday]

Thank you.

[Alex Osoleff]

And finally, going through an airport security line is no one's favorite way to start their vacation. But there could be some good news there. The Transportation Security Administration, or tsa is testing makeshift terminals located away from the airport. You take off from, you go through security, then a bus drops you off at the airport past the security line. WSJ travel columnist Don Gilbertson tried it out. Checking in 25 miles west of Boston, Logan International Airport.

[Don Gilbertson]

It's a new TSA program where instead of going to the airport and checking your bags and going through security, you do it in a suburb. I think I would give it a B. It just required much more time than I normally give on a trip to the airport. I had to check in at 10am at this terminal and my flight out of Logan wasn't till 2:50pm this really, I think is built for people like families with lots of children. It's not for me because I don't like to get to the airport three hours before my flight. But I can see it being super attractive for people that want to avoid the hassle of going to Logan, going through security there.

[Alex Osoleff]

Now while I do love arriving at the airport three hours early, I think I'll personally stick with TSA PreCheck. And that's what's news for this week. Tomorrow you can look out for our weekly markets wrap up what's news in Markets. Then on Sunday we're capping off our housing series with the final episode of our USA 250 project. We dig into America's centuries long pursuit of home ownership and how that has shaped the housing market. Today. That's in what's New Sunday and we'll be back with our regular show on Monday morning. Today's show is produced by Danny Lewis and Anthony Bamsi, our supervising producer with Pierre Biennime. Michael Lavalle wrote our theme music. Aisha El Musleam is our development producer. Chris Zinsley is our deputy editor. And I'm Alex Osola. Have a great weekend and thanks for listening.

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