Many American troops have relocated to hotels and office buildings in Gulf states after the bases where they were stationed were attacked by Iran and effectively rendered uninhabitable, the New York Times reported on Thursday. As a result of the strikes, a large portion of U.S. forces in the region are now taking part in the war effort “remotely” rather than operating from their bases. Exceptions include fighter pilots and aircraft maintenance crews. The report cited U.S. officials and military personnel.
According to the newspaper, nearly 40,000 American troops were in the region at the start of the war. U.S. Central Command has moved some forces out of the Middle East, as far away as Europe. Many troops have remained in the region, but not at their original bases. The result, according to senior military officials, is a war that is much more difficult to manage.
Relocating troops to temporary sites — described in the Times by one military source as “alternative” — raises questions about the preparedness of Donald Trump’s administration for a war against Iran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has called on civilians in Gulf countries to report the whereabouts of U.S. troops who left their bases.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to the report on X, writing: “Since the beginning of this war, American soldiers have fled military bases in Gulf countries to hide in hotels and offices. They are using Gulf civilians as human shields. Hotels in the United States should refuse bookings from officers who may endanger guests. Hotels in Gulf countries should do the same.”
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: Hotels in the US and Gulf should refuse bookings from officers who may endanger guests
Iran’s Fars News Agency published a report in which Iranian officials threatened to target hotels in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and also Damascus, claiming they are hosting U.S. troops. The agency cited “sources” as saying that “a significant number of U.S. military bases in the region have been destroyed and rendered unusable, and therefore American forces have moved to hotels in regional countries, including Bahrain and the UAE.”
The report added that, according to those sources, “Iran has issued a warning to hotels in the region, especially in those two countries, not to provide accommodation to American soldiers — otherwise these sites will be considered legitimate military targets by Iran.” Fars also claimed that in other countries in the region “alternative bases and lodging centers for foreign forces have been observed,” and said a U.S. logistics base was activated in Lebanon near Beirut’s old airport. “Forces and military equipment are stationed there,” the agency claimed.
Fars further alleged that the Four Seasons hotel in Damascus “has been identified as one of the centers for the deployment of foreign forces and experts.” It also claimed that “the Sheraton hotel in Damascus and the Presidential Palace complex are locations for Israeli, American and British advisers.” The agency added that in Djibouti, U.S. Marines were moved this week to a base at the country’s international airport in the Horn of Africa.
“It has again been made clear, according to informed sources, that Iran’s warning to hotel owners in the region is comprehensive and final, and that any center hosting foreign military personnel, regardless of its geographic location, will be included among Iran’s legitimate defense targets if this does not stop,” Fars warned.