Iran posed to overwhelm US bases in Gulf former CENTCOM commander warns

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The former top security head of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) warned on Thursday that U.S. bases in the Middle East could become overwhelmed by Iranian missile fire.

Retired Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, now a Hertog senior fellow with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), is sounding the alarm in a report this week that argued U.S. bases in the Arabian Gulf have become vulnerable to Iranian assault with Tehran's developments in its weapons capabilities.

"Our basing strategy is outdated and poorly positioned to meet the central threat in the region: Iran," McKenzie said. "By developing a flexible western basing network for America’s air assets, we will complicate Iran’s ability to target our forces and raise the cost of aggression."

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In a call with reporters this week, McKenzie explained that some of the U.S.’s top bases in countries like Qatar, UAE and Bahrain – located near Iran and which once served as a deterrent against malign actors – now sit as weak points in the U.S.'s force posture in the region.

As technology and missile development have modernized, base placement needs to be rethought, he argued, noting that Iran is loaded with short-range missile capabilities, while its medium- to long-range abilities are lacking.

"They have spent