Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi would like to file a correction on the whole "Iran is defenseless" thing. On Tuesday, he took to X to argue that the narrative is, in his words, "Fiction," and he brought receipts. Sort of.
Araghchi wrote that "100s of U.S. military sites" were "blown to pieces" and "dozens of aircraft" were "scorched." Then he added the line that every good negotiator, and every good marketer, knows to add: "And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We'll reveal it all in due course."
He didn't stop there. "For those who've sold lies about Iran, it won't be pretty," he said.
What the Attached Report Actually Says
Araghchi attached an image from a US report detailing damage to American military facilities and equipment during the conflict. According to the report, US Central Command said Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
The image also includes Table 5, "U.S. Aircraft Damaged or Destroyed During OEF." That table lists four F-15Es destroyed, one F-35A damaged by enemy fire over Iran and seven KC-135 refueling aircraft damaged or destroyed. It also lists one E-3 damaged by Iranian strikes and as many as 30 MQ-9 aircraft destroyed in various circumstances.
That's a lot of hardware on one slide. Whether it adds up to "defenseless" being fiction is a matter of interpretation, but it's certainly a long way from "nothing happened."
How We Got Here
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump ordered fresh US strikes on Iranian targets as Tehran retaliated against American positions across the Middle East. The US military targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps assets, including air-defense systems, radar sites, maritime equipment, mine-laying capabilities and communications facilities. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against US forces in Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq.
The month before, US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island after detecting preparations to fire sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with attacks on US bases in Jordan.
Iran was also reportedly considering expanding potential attacks to US military assets in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria's Bezmer air base and facilities in Cyprus. Iranian forces had also considered targeting subsea fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz if the conflict escalated.
So the next time someone tells you a conflict is contained, remember that the list of possible targets apparently includes undersea internet cables. That's the modern battlefield for you.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by MarketDash editors.
