Strikes on US bases in the 2026 Iran war
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Strikes on US bases in the 2026 Iran war covers the degradation of the American basing network in the Middle East by Iranian retaliation, and John Kiriakou's reading of it.

The scale was put to him in an interview as twenty-seven American military facilities struck across the region, including Incirlik air base in Turkey, one of the key hubs for American air power in the Middle East for decades, which was hit and rendered unusable. Several ports the United States uses in the Gulf were damaged, as was a port under construction in Oman that had been intended to reduce American exposure at Dubai. Resupply had shifted to ports in Europe and India.

Kiriakou did not dispute any of it. His answer was that the vulnerability was foreseeable and unplanned for: "this is yet another one of those examples of that the United States just never thought would happen and so didn't prepare for. India is far from the war zone. It's far, and it's hard to get from India to the Persian Gulf."

"We just pretended not to hear"

His central claim is that Iran published its intentions before acting on them. "The Iranians told us in advance that this would quickly escalate into a regional war. It did almost immediately, and then the Iranians told us that they would close the Strait of Hormuz." By the time of the interview they were in the process of closing it, having attacked three ships that morning, two oil tankers and one cargo ship.

"Like, what did we think was going to happen? They told us what was going to happen," he said. "And we just pretended not to hear."

Standing

Kiriakou's summary of the American position was blunt: "We here in the United States, we look like fools. We look like puppets of the Israelis and we look like fools for being duped into yet another war of choice."

See also

- 2026 Iran war
- Strait of Hormuz
- Cost Of The 2026 Iran War
- The Oman oil lease
