Navy Sec says Iran blew the hell out of Bahrain

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Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao confirmed this week that a major American military installation in Bahrain was badly damaged by Iranian attacks — and that he was unsure whether keeping US forces there is feasible long-term.

“They blew the hell out of Bahrain,” Cao told the Epoch Times in an interview published Thursday, referring to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, home of the US Fifth Fleet.

Hung Cao, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Virginia, speaks at a campaign rally.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao confirmed this week that a major American military hub in Bahrain was badly damaged by Iranian attacks.

Cao was unsure whether keeping US forces there is feasible long-term.

Cao added that “I have a task force looking at” whether the base could or should be restored.


The secretary’s comments followed Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle telling a displaced service member last week that “we’re not getting back in there [NSA Bahrain] anytime soon.”

“I just want to be completely honest with that,” added Caudle in response to the service member, who had asked when they would be able to retrieve personal belongings from the base, according to Navy Times.

The installation was first hit in a retaliatory attack by Iran Feb. 28, hours after the initial strikes on Tehran by the US and Israel. At the time, the Pentagon claimed that the strikes had no significant impact on military operations and there were no fatalities.

However, the Wall Street Journal reported in June that Iran had succeeded in hitting the base’s command headquarters and at least a dozen other buildings, including two satellite communications terminals, and estimated that repairing the damage would cost around $400 million.

Meanwhile, ships like the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier were unable to stock up on vital supplies due to the damage in Bahrain — contributing to shortages and declining morale on board the vessel.




Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi taunted Cao in a post on X early Friday, saying: “We appreciate the candor of Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao. Our powerful Armed Forces did indeed ‘blow the hell out of the 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain,’ as well as other bases supporting U.S. aggression. The American people deserve better than footing the bill for Israel’s wars.”

If the military opts not to return to NSA Bahrain, it could shift its presence elsewhere in the Middle East — including Israel, further away from the reach of Iranian projectiles.

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