Iran Claims Strikes on US Military Sites in Middle East as Pentagon Reports Major Counterstrikes on Iran

Satellite images and videos analysed by BBC Verify show that Iran has damaged 20 US military sites since the start of the war. The attacks have struck key facilities across eight countries in the Middle East since the end of February. The countries are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman.

Iranian strikes have caused millions of dollars of damage to state-of-the-art air defence systems, refuelling aircraft and radars. Tehran has targeted both US bases and shared military facilities in retaliation to US-Israeli strikes across Iran and Lebanon over the past three months. The Pentagon says it has hit more than 13,000 targets in Iran since the start of Operation Epic Fury.

Mojtaba Khamenei claimed the Middle East was no longer a "safe place" for American bases. Some analysts place the number of damaged US sites as high as 28. Three state-of-the-art anti-ballistic missile batteries were damaged at Al Ruwais and Al Sader airbases in the UAE and Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan.

The US operates eight Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries globally. Each THAAD battery costs around $1bn to manufacture and needs a crew of about 100 troops. 7m per round.

Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett told BBC Verify that the THAAD batteries are at the core of a highly complex regional defence network that cannot be quickly or easily replaced. Iranian strikes heavily hit US refuelling and surveillance aircraft at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia. One aircraft damaged at Prince Sultan Airbase was identified as an E-3 Sentry surveillance plane.

An E-3 Sentry surveillance plane could cost up to $700m to replace. Iranian attacks targeted Ali Al Salem Airbase and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Destroyed fuel storage bunkers, aircraft hangars and troop accommodation were identified at Ali Al Salem Airbase.

Extensive damage to satellite communications hardware occurred at Camp Arifjan. A May estimate by the Pentagon put the total cost of Operation Epic Fury at $29bn. At least 42 aircraft including F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones and an A-10 attack plane have been destroyed or damaged since February.

Iran has used cheap, easily replaceable drones in its attacks. Dr Kelly Grieco said Iran's opening salvos were optimised for volume but within days shifted to smaller, more precisely targeted salvos. An analyst at MAIAR told BBC Verify that the US military appears to have been guilty of a degree of early-war complacency.

Mojtaba Khamenei vowed that the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases. On Thursday Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted an American base in the region after fresh US strikes on southern Iran. The US has requested Planet to impose an indefinite restriction on new images of Iran and most of the Middle East.