<\/p>\n
As munitions streaked<\/span> through the night sky, a plaintive cry like a whale song echoed in the darkness. U.S. troops grabbed their gear and headed for shelter as the warning sirens rang out, a leaked video<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n The military personnel, clad in a mix of combat fatigues and gym attire, piled into a bunker, huddling in the darkness. \u201cGuys, off the walls if we can,\u201d a woman, likely a medic, advised, warning about the danger of traumatic brain injuries.<\/p>\n The footage, reportedly from Jordan\u2019s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, where three U.S. troops were killed during Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks<\/a> on July 17 and 18<\/a>, offers a glimpse of the dangers faced by U.S. forces across the Middle East.<\/p>\n The attacks are continued demonstrations of Iran\u2019s ability to target U.S. bases<\/a> across the Middle East and kill U.S. troops, despite months of claims<\/a> by President Donald Trump and self-styled War Secretary Pete Hegseth that Iran\u2019s military was annihilated<\/a>. As this fiction has collapsed, U.S. Central Command has refused to discuss the number and scale of the strikes. \u201cI have nothing for you on that,\u201d Maj. Emma Thompson, the command\u2019s media operations chief, told The Intercept.<\/p>\n Iran has attacked at least nine U.S. outposts across the Middle East since July 9, according to a U.S. official who spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press. Several of these bases suffered \u201csignificant\u201d damage in the attacks, the source said.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s military managed to overwhelm U.S. air defense systems using a mix of attack drones and advanced ballistic missiles, according to the official. Numerous factors make the missiles difficult to defeat, the source said: They travel at hypersonic speeds, have complex navigational capabilities including methods to circumvent jamming, and some can be guided or steered.<\/p>\n Stocks of advanced air-defense missiles, like Patriot and THAAD interceptors, are so depleted that U.S. forces are not shooting down all Iranian missiles and drones aimed at U.S. and allied targets across the Middle East, the official said, referencing a Friday report by NBC News<\/a> that revealed the tactic. The official told The Intercept that the U.S. allows missiles through its defenses only in cases where a strike is judged not to imperil U.S. lives.<\/p>\n The U.S. and its allies burned through more than 11,000 munitions<\/a>, including large amounts of defensive missiles, in the first 16 days of the war alone, according to a March analysis by the Royal United Services Institute. The report predicted then that U.S. forces were\u00a0about a month away from running out of THAAD interceptors. An April report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that \u201cdiminished munitions stockpiles have created a near-term risk.\u201d A follow-up report <\/a>the next month warned that it would \u201ctake three or more years from today to return to prewar inventory levels\u201d of Patriot and THAAD missiles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson, said<\/a> that \u201cPatriot systems have been weakened to such an extent that Iranian missiles and drones are reaching their targets without being intercepted.\u201d He said that during a flurry of attacks from July 8 to July 22, Iran struck numerous air defense and radar installations, including six \u201cPatriot air-defense radars.\u201d<\/p>\n CENTCOM did not reply to a request for comment on the claims by the U.S. official or Mohebbi.<\/p>\n The official confirmed that Iran also recently attacked Tower 22, a U.S. military outpost on the northern Jordanian border with Syria. Satellite images<\/a> as well as photos<\/a> and videos circulating online indicate the base suffered extensive damage. (In 2024, a drone attack on Tower 22 by an Iran-backed militia killed<\/a> three U.S. troops.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Iran says it also attacked U.S. military facilities at Jordan\u2019s Prince Hassan Air Base<\/a>, King Faisal Air Base<\/a>,\u00a0and Al-Azraq Air Base<\/a>; Kuwait\u2019s Al-Adiri base<\/a>, Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base<\/a>, Camp Doha, Ali Al Salem Air Base, and Camp Arifjan<\/a>; Naval Support Activity Sheikh Isa in Bahrain<\/a>; and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thompson refused to confirm Iranian attacks on various U.S. bases across the Middle East. \u201cWe don\u2019t comment on battle damage assessments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n