The aggression by the US and Israel on February 28, which has since intensified, has led to the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as well at least 1,255 Iranians killed so far, including 165 schoolgirls in the city of Minab. In response to this unprompted criminal US/Israeli aggression while US-Iran negotiations had been ongoing, Iran has conducted a devastating and precisely co-ordinated military campaign.

In just 14 days, Iran's defensive military response True Promise 4 to the US/Israeli war of aggression has continued to hit the core of US power in the Persian Gulf, from Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base to the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and its genocidal ally Israel. Iran has featured the deployment of hundreds of missiles, including ballistic and hypersonic variants, together with attack drones in some 40 waves to date against numerous US and Israeli targets throughout the region.

Web of US military bases in the Persian Gulf

As Iranian reports say, to fully grasp the magnitude of Iran's defensive military achievements, one must first understand the intricate web of US military power that has for decades strangled the Persian Gulf region [1]. At the apex of this system sits Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. A sprawling facility covering approximately fifty square kilometres south-west of Doha, it stands as the largest American military installation in the entire West Asia and the forward headquarters of United States Central Command. Al-Udeid is the cornerstone of US military strategy in the region, housing over ten thousand personnel and supporting the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. Its formidable array of bombers, fighter aircraft, surveillance platforms, and drones has, for years, been the launchpad for aggressive operations against regional nations.

Demonstration in London opposing the attack on Iran, March 7, 2026

Around 150 miles from Al-Udeid lies Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. This installation complements its Qatari counterpart by providing the United States with advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Al-Dhafra hosts approximately five thousand active-duty US military personnel assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. Their primary missions include aerial refuelling and high-altitude intelligence gathering, utilising platforms such as the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, the Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones - aircraft that have routinely violated Iranian airspace along the Persian Gulf coast.

In Bahrain, the Naval Support Activity in Manama serves as the headquarters for both US Naval Forces Central Command and the United States Fifth Fleet. Supporting over nine thousand military personnel and more than one hundred tenant commands, this facility, established on the grounds of the former British Royal Navy base HMS Juffair, provides the logistical and command infrastructure necessary for the Fifth Fleet to project power throughout the region with its carrier strike groups and supporting vessels.

Kuwait hosts yet another crucial node. Camp Arifjan serves as the primary forward logistics hub for American ground forces, while Ali Al-Salem Air Base hosts the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, and Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base provides critical naval infrastructure.

This was the fortress America had built, a ring of steel and fire meant to contain and intimidate Iran and the countries of the Persian Gulf and West Asia. And this is the US/Israeli fortress that Iran has shattered.

The Response True Promise 4

Arifjan is a major U.S. Army installation in Kuwait, serving as a forward logistics and operational hub for U.S. and coalition forces in the Middle East

According to multiple reports and within hours of the initial wave of aggression, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched Operation True Promise 4, "a meticulously planned retaliation that simultaneously targeted more than a dozen American military installations across the region".

At Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Iranian missiles struck with devastating precision. Their impacts were captured on video and broadcast by multiple news agencies. The most significant achievement was the complete destruction of the AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar, a system valued at approximately $1.1 billion that served as the electronic eye of American air defence throughout the Persian Gulf.

This fixed UHF phased-array radar, designed to detect and continuously track ballistic missiles at extremely long ranges, represented the most critical component of the US early warning architecture in West Asia. Its obliteration rendered the entire American air defence network effectively blind, forcing surviving batteries to operate with degraded situational awareness and dramatically reducing their effectiveness against subsequent Iranian strikes.

Simultaneously, Iranian missiles and kamikaze drones descended upon Al-Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, destroying the American terrorists' air warfare centre, satellite communication centre, early warning radars, and fire control radars, effectively decapitating the base's command and control capabilities.

The Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, and RQ-4 Global Hawk drones found themselves without the supporting infrastructure necessary for their operations. Their hangars were damaged or destroyed, their crews scrambling to survive the onslaught.

The strikes extended to the naval infrastructure. At Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, which is the most frequent port of call for US Navy vessels outside the American homeland, Iranian missiles caused significant damage to facilities used for resupplying and maintaining the Fifth Fleet's warships.

In Bahrain, the headquarters of the United States Fifth Fleet came under direct attack, with multiple missiles and kamikaze drones striking the Naval Support Activity facility.

Video clips captured the moment of impact as projectiles struck buildings within the base complex, including a high-rise structure housing American troops.

The IRGC announced that a service centre for the Fifth Fleet had been specifically targeted, and subsequent attacks on March 1 would hit an unnamed US naval command and backup centre with two ballistic missiles.

Kuwait's American installations suffered perhaps the most complete destruction. Ali Al-Salem Air Base, struck on February 28, came under renewed attack on March 1.

The IRGC subsequently declared that the base had been rendered completely out of service. This facility, home to the US Air Force's 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, was effectively neutralised as a military asset: its runways cratered, its hangars destroyed, its aircraft either damaged or forced to flee. The Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base suffered an equally devastating fate, with three naval infrastructure structures reportedly destroyed. In a matter of hours, the elaborate fortress America had spent decades building had been shattered.

Iran's True Promise 4 response to Israel

The "Western" media continues to implement the Israeli regime's censorship hiding the effects of Iran's defensive response on Israel itself. There has been considerable damage by Iran's 44 waves of True Promise 4 missiles and drones on Israel and Tel Aviv itself, aiming to destroy the Israeli regime's military capacity and infrastructure. This has itself been unprecedented and devastating.

The effectiveness could already be seen when on Thursday, March 12, Press TVreported [2]:

"Iran's Army says its operations against Israeli military infrastructure are becoming easier and more precise after parts of the regime's radar network were destroyed, as a new wave of drone strikes hit key bases and security facilities. Iranian forces launched a fresh round of drone operations against strategic Israeli targets on Thursday, striking the Palmachim Airbase, Ovda Airbase, and a major facility of the Shin Bet internal security service near Tel Aviv, according to an official military statement.

"Army spokesman Brigadier General Akraminia said the destruction of sections of the enemy's radar infrastructure has significantly improved operational conditions for Iranian forces. 'With the elimination of part of the enemy's radar facilities at sensitive centres, continuing the operations has become easier and we now have better access to important and sensitive points,' he said. 'Operations are becoming more precise day by day.'"

The Press TV report continued: "According to the Army's statement, Iranian loitering drones targeted the control tower, runway, and aircraft hangars at Palmachim and Ovda airbases on Thursday. Palmachim, located near Tel Aviv, serves as a key hub for the Israeli regime's satellite launches and missile testing programmes. The base also hosts missile defence systems such as David's Sling and Hermes-900 drones. The Ovda Airbase, another strategic facility, functions as a major training base for the Israeli air force. The site has also hosted American F-22 fighter jets.

London demonstration confronting the US Embassy, March 7 2026

"Iranian drones also struck the headquarters of the Shin Bet, which operates as the operational heart of the regime's internal security apparatus, coordinating security operations and protection of senior officials and sensitive installations."

Among previous reports, there is one which shows that Iran also targeted Bir as-Sab (Beersheba) in southern Israel, scoring a direct hit on the Israeli army's communication complex located there. Microsoft and other Israeli companies engaged in Israeli military operations in Gaza and beyond were also struck in Bir as-Sab.

In Iran itself a report last Saturday said: "Since the beginning of the aggression by the American-Zionist enemy, the number of drones shot down by the defence systems of the Army and the IRGC has reached 82." The statement came as reports published in domestic media suggested that Iranian armed forces had also managed to down several foreign jets trying to enter the country's airspace from neighbouring Kuwait.

As we write, Iranian defensive operations are ongoing in response to the continued criminal US/Israeli bombing and aggression. The news reports also point out that "the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have also joined the front against the external aggressors on Iran and Lebanon, inflicting heavy blows on the enemy". Latest information on March 10 and 13 gives details of True Promise 4's 34th, 35th and 44th waves [3]. Iranian armed forces have so far carried out 44 waves of missile and drone strikes with advanced weaponry targeting Israeli military facilities in the occupied territories, as well as US occupation bases and assets scattered across the West Asia region.

The new Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah, Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first message on March 12, stressing unity and the Iranian people's "determined and regret-inducing" defence efforts and asserting that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed. "The will of the people is to continue effective defence," he said, "and their presence on the scene must be maintained."

Notes
1. Op. True Promise 4: Iran's missile blitzkrieg dismantles US war machine in West Asia - Press TV, Ivan Kesic, March 10
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/10/765211/op-true-promise-iran-missile-blitzkrieg-dismantles-us-war-machine-west-asia
2. Iran Army launches drone operation, says radar collapse makes Israeli targets easier to hit - Press TV, March 12
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/12/765286/Iran-Army-launches-drone-operation-says-radar-collapse-makes-Israeli-targets-easier-to-hit
3. True Promise 4: Iran and resistance axis ops. against US-Israeli assets on March 10, Press TV
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/10/765225/true-promise-4-iran-resistance-axisops-against-us-israeli-assets-march-10
IRGC hits Israeli military sites, US bases in major offensive, March 13, Press TV
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/03/13/765317/IRGC-hits-Israeli-military-sites-US-bases-in-major-offensive

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