Photo via CBS News

Expert: Images of damaged U.S. bases in Middle East show Iran "getting help from Russia and China"

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Expert: Images of damaged U.S. bases in Middle East show Iran "getting help from Russia and China". (2026, September 16). CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/video/expert-images-damaged-us-bases-mideast-iran-getting-help-russia-china/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-09-16

Quick Summary

CBS News obtained exclusive images revealing extensive damage to U.S. military bases in the Middle East due to conflict with Iran. In an interview on "The Takeout," former Defense Department official Matthew Kroenig suggests that these damages indicate Iran is receiving support from Russia and China.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

CBS News has obtained leaked photos from anonymous U.S. military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, showing extensive damage at U.S. bases following Iranian missile and drone strikes. The images depict destroyed aircraft, collapsed buildings, and burned-out vehicles. One photo captures a $270 million Boeing E-3 Sentry spy plane severely damaged at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia, with its tail section ripped off. These photos highlight significant destruction across multiple U.S. positions, raising concerns about the impact of President Trump's war on Iran, which began seven months prior and shows no signs of ending. The Pentagon’s inspector general reported that hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in eight countries, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Jordan, were damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes.

Written for “Iran Attacks Damage US Bases” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 29 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Iran Attacks Damage US Bases
World · 30 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 22 claims Outlet record 68/100
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 68/100
CBS News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Independent
Hedges 5 of 34 claims Outlet record 59/100
The Independent
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 9 of 53 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A discusses an attack on a Saudi military base by Houthi rebels, while Article B mentions damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East due to a war with Iran.”
The Independent
Hedges 5 of 54 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A describes the destruction and damage to US aircraft and bases, while Article B focuses on expert analysis of images showing widespread damage at US bases due to the war with Iran.”
CBC News
Hedges 1 of 28 claims Outlet record 60/100
“While both articles discuss damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East during the conflict with Iran, Article A is a report from an inspector general detailing costs and military shortfalls, while Article B focuses on expert analysis of images showing base damage and suggests foreign involvement for Iran.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East due to Iran, they focus on different aspects: one is a soldier's statement about resource management and the other is an expert analysis suggesting Russian and Chinese involvement.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
3
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 3 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
30
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 4280 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article.

Topics

CBS News China Iran Russia U.S.

Subjects

Iran GPE · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× CBS News ORG · 1× China GPE · 1× Defense Department ORG · 1× Matthew Kroenig PERSON · 1× Russia GPE · 1×

Narrative

CBS News has exclusively gained access to photos that show widespread damage at U.S. bases in the Middle East as a result of the war with Iran.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17

Claims (3 extracted, 0 hedged)

Images of damaged U.S. bases in Middle East show Iran "getting help from Russia and China" asserted
Iran → damage → Russia
CBS News has exclusively gained access to photos that show widespread damage at U.S. bases in the Middle East as a result of the war with Iran. asserted
that → gain → Iran
Former Defense Department official Matthew Kroenig joins "The Takeout" with his reaction. asserted
Kroenig → join → reaction
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support