After Saturday’s bombings on Iran’s nuclear facilities Iran has warned that it will target U.S. military bases, leaving a 5% chance that there will be more U.S. military action against Iran by the end of the day, according to prediction markets. From desert airstrips in northern Iraq to the massive air hub in Qatar, these installations sit well inside the range of Iran’s missiles—and shape every U.S. calculation in the Gulf.
Al‑Harir Air Base, Iraqi Kurdistan
Distance: 71 mi
Why it matters:
- The closest permanent U.S. facility to Iran.
- Expanded after 2020 with a 2,500‑m runway, hardened shelters and space for drones, F‑15/16 fighters and special‑operations aircraft.
- Functions as a rapid‑response pad for northern Iraq, Syria and the Gulf.
Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait
Distance: 75 mi
Why it matters:
- Hosts the Air Force’s 386th Air Expeditionary Wing—C‑17s, C‑130s, KC‑46 tankers and Patriot batteries—and is a primary logistics hub for U.S. and coalition forces.
- Its proximity to the Shatt al‑Arab makes it one of the first targets analysts list in any Iran–U.S. contingency.
Camp Arifjan (plus Camp Buehring), Kuwait
Distance: 62 mi
Why it matters:
- Arifjan is the U.S. Army’s forward headquarters for Central Command ground forces, storing thousands of armored vehicles pre‑positioned for rapid onward movement.
- Buehring, 40 km farther into the desert, trains Army aviation and drone units that can be over Iranian airspace in minutes.
Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar
Distance: 170–186 mi
Why it matters:
- The largest American installation in the Middle East (~10,000 U.S. troops).
- Home to the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) that controls every U.S. strike, tanker and reconnaissance sortie from Egypt to Afghanistan.
- Recent draw‑down of 40 aircraft (June 2025) shows how swiftly Washington can re‑configure the base when tensions spike.
Al Dhafra Air Base, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Distance: 368 km
Why it matters:
- Houses the Air Force’s 380th Air Expeditionary Wing—F‑22 Raptors, RQ‑4 Global Hawks, E‑3 AWACS and KC‑10 tankers.
- Well‑defended (THAAD, Patriot, “NASAMS”), yet still inside range of Iran’s Fateh‑110 and Qiam ballistic missiles—forcing a heavy focus on missile‑defense drills.
Isa Air Base & NSA Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain
Distance to Bushehr: 90 mi corridor as Slide 6.
Why it matters:
- Isa AB hosts rotational F‑16/F‑35 squadrons and U.S. Air National Guard tankers; its shared runway with Bahrain’s civilian airport puts frontline jets minutes from Iranian airspace.
- Together with the nearby naval hub, the air base forms a compact, high‑value “target cluster” that planners must protect.
Why Distance Matters
Even the closest sites lie well under 250 miles —inside the range of Iran’s precision drones and most of its ballistic‑missile inventory (up to 1,200 mi). That reality shapes every U.S. basing decision: from hardened shelters in Kuwait to rapid‑runway‑repair kits in Iraq and dense Patriot/THAAD batteries in the Gulf states.
