Where U.S. Military Facilities Are in the Middle East

Iran launched an attack on a U.S. air base in Qatar on Monday evening local time, according to state media. The move comes amid escalations between Israel and Iran and is a retaliation for the U.S. decision to attack Iran’s nuclear sites yesterday. The Pentagon states that the U.S. currently has around 40,000 active-duty troops and Defense Department civilians stationed in the Middle East, with the largest U.S. military site in the region being Qatar’s Al Udeid air base, where some 10,000 troops are stationed. Qatar said it had intercepted the missiles. At the time of writing there had been no reports of casualties and an attack on a second U.S. base in Iraq had not been confirmed. Iran reportedly issued a warning before the offensive.

According to data published by the Congressional Research Service, as of July 10, 2024, personnel were based across Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. Qatar's Al Udeid air base is one of the eight so-called persistent U.S. military bases, which means that it has been continuously used by the U.S. Department of Defense for at least 15 years, with the U.S. military exercising at least some degree of operational control there. These permanent bases tend to be the DOD’s largest and most well-known.

Also marked on this infographic are 11 other selected U.S. military sites. According to the Congressional Research Service, these sites do not meet the persistent bases’ criteria but are places where the DOD maintains some sort of territorially linked presence or access. This data is based on unclassified sources and does not include all facilities in the region, including temporary sites, which the U.S. military may use for exercises or contingency operations without planning on turning them into persistent sites.

The UN has called for civilian protection and respect for human rights, stating that hundreds of civilians, including women and children, have been killed since the conflict began with Israeli air strikes on June 13.