Iran war: A satellite damage assessment on US military bases

Qatar is saying an Iranian ballistic missile has struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. That is the largest military installation for the United States in the entire Middle East. And it comes as a new CNN investigation is now looking specifically at the American targets hit so far by Iranian strikes, every single one of them. Tamara Khablawi is out front. Satellite imagery showing the extent of the damage to U.S. military facilities across Gulf Arab countries is starting to emerge. Part of Iran's furious response to an Israeli-American campaign that decimated its leadership. At least nine U.S. military positions have been hit in less than 48 hours. These are relatively close targets. They're much nearer to Iran than its usual target, Israel. That proximity may give Iran's missiles and drones a better chance of hitting their targets. This is the port of Sha'eba, where just after 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, an Iranian strike set a makeshift U.S. operations center at the civilian port ablaze. Six American service members were killed in the attack. You can see smoke rising from the fire. The blown out three-wide trailer blackened on the inside. There are few signs of fortification. In another attack, a drone, this appears to be the Arash-2, crashes into U.S. positions in Camp Buring, a building severely damaged. American helicopters parked inside the base were nearly hit. In Bahrain, a Shahed attack drone flies into the base that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, one of the largest American naval formations in the world. It looks alarmingly defenseless. The drone hits one satellite communication terminal, clearly seen here. But the scale of the damage is more obvious here, warehouses and other buildings damaged. And another satellite communication terminal destroyed in a separate attack. We see this pattern of targeting throughout the region. At least five satellite communication terminals were destroyed. It points to a possible Iranian effort to cut U.S. bases off from the outside world. Iran used an unprecedented barrage of missiles and drones. U.S. Patriot missiles and other multi-billion-dollar air defense systems shot most of these out of the sky. But the ones that got through were enough to puncture the veil of security around oil-rich Gulf Arab states, and the heart of America's security infrastructure in the Middle East. Now the question is just how long can Iran sustain these attacks? That depends on how big their stockpiles of missiles and drones are, which is currently unknown. And really, Erin, it comes down to how quickly can the U.S. and Israel achieve their stated objective of obliterating the missiles. Until that happens, Iran has made it clear that in the aftermath of the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, it plans to sow as much chaos as possible to U.S. interests in the Middle East and beyond. At the very top of the program, I mentioned the strike on Al Udeid that we are understanding has just happened. And that was from, we understand, a ballistic missile from Iran. What's the significance of that, given that you've been there so much, but that this is the single largest military base in the region? Well, the Qatari government has the obligation, in concert with the United States, agreements in place to protect the airspace. When I was there, and over the course of time, certainly there was a full integration of not only U.S. air defense capabilities and those that are possessed by the Qatarian government. In this case, over the course of time, maybe the U.S. presence there has decreased somewhat. And in Qatar, it has increased to a point that they now have primacy in terms of that mission set. That's the only thing I can assume right now, because for Iran to be able to target Al Udeid, first of all, it's a known location. They know where it is, so that's no mystery. But for it to get through, that's a legitimate concern. And U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says all personnel are accounted for after a drone strike in a parking lot near the U.S. consulate in Dubai late last night. It is now one o'clock in the afternoon here. Paula Hancock's joining us from Dubai. And Paula, just let's get some reaction there. People have been extremely concerned, of course, about these attacks. They do tell us they, on the whole, feel safe, though. How is what is going on in Dubai and the broader picture of Iranian attacks on U.S. military and, importantly, non-military facilities going down? Well, Becky, we had heard from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that they were expanding their targets. It was going to be American political centers hit as well. And we're certainly seeing that, as you mentioned there, the car park of the consulate in Dubai close to where we are here now. There were no casualties because there was no one in the building. We know that the consulate at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, they'd canceled all appointments up until March 4th, which is today. Clearly, that is going to be extended. And we're seeing embassies being shut, the Saudi embassy, the Kuwait embassy, because they are being targeted. Now, we also saw overnight in Qatar the Al Udeid airbase once again being struck. This is the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East. But again, there would have been an awful lot of movement out of that base before this war started. Now, in Kuwait, there were interceptions of aerial objects were being told. One of the interceptions created debris, which then hit a residential building and killed an 11-year-old girl. So these incoming missiles and drones are continuing. We are seeing having a very high success rate of managing to shoot down these missiles and drones. We heard a couple of interceptions overhead a couple of hours ago. We're also hearing a lot more fighter jets in the air above the skies of Dubai today and yesterday. One interesting point to make is that France has now decided to send fighter jets into the skies above the UAE. The French minister saying that was to make sure that they could protect their military bases here. They said that a military base in Abu Dhabi had been hit. It's unclear at this point whether they will be actively involved in shooting down missiles or drones. But it just shows that the number of countries, particularly in Europe as well, being drawn into this war is increasing. France was very critical of the U.S. president for making the decision to go ahead and attack Iran. Nick, I want to talk about what's happening in the region. What are you hearing? Yeah. In the Saudi Arabia hearing, Riyadh specifically, the U.S. Embassy State Department has authorized non-emergency staff to be able to leave. The consulate in Jeddah, the consulate in the east of the country, and the oil-producing sector in Tehran were under strict shelter-in-place instructions through the day yesterday. The Iranians continue their strikes and attempted strikes on Saudi Arabia in the early hours this morning. Nine drones were intercepted. Another drone was intercepted in the last couple of hours in the eastern province. And here in Saudi Arabia, they are watching for how Iran may be escalating their attacks. A lot of the intercepts that have been successfully intercepted here have been drone attacks. But this morning, two cruise missiles indicating an escalation of the type of attack by Iran on Saudi Arabia were shot down successfully, no injuries reported, as far as we know, in a town just south of Riyadh. And right next to that town is a massive Saudi military air base. But in the last few minutes, we've heard that there has been an attempted attack again on the massive oil-producing facility here in Saudi Arabia. And of course, the concern for the Saudis is that their oil sector is potentially vulnerable. They're defending it, successfully defending it so far. But there is a risk, and they recognize this, that a strike on their oil facilities could put pressure on them to be dragged potentially into the war here, something that they are not inclined to do, something that they are concerned about and have given Iran strong diplomatic signals not to do. You know, the option to respond if, you know, if they are attacked remains an option. However, this is feeling to the Saudis as if it is an escalation of Iran's attacks going on. And I think the bigger picture that underscores there is that adds to the assessment here at the moment that Iran still has command-and-control capability and can escalate its targets pick and choose, as it did a little over 24 hours ago to send four drones successfully hitting the embassy here in the center of Riyadh, the U.S. embassy, and not just the embassy building itself, but hitting the CIA station there, fire damage to the extent of which we don't quite know yet. Okay. And, of course, people are watching this closely as the number of civilian deaths would rise. Nick Robertson, thank you so much.