Iran on Friday said the U.S., as a "backer" of Israel, "shall be held fully accountable" for the series of strikes Jerusalem levied overnight against Tehran, its nuclear and military facilities, and top officials - deepening retaliatory concerns over U.S. bases near Iran.
The U.N. Mission to Iran sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council condemning the attacks that killed four military commanders, one Iranian official allegedly involved in the nuclear talks with the U.S., and two nuclear scientists, and said that Israel's "conduct" in the region "poses a serious threat to international security."
But earlier this week, just days ahead of a planned meeting between Washington and Tehran in Oman to discuss nuclear negotiations, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh threatened to hit U.S. bases in the Middle East, should Israel once again directly strike the Persian nation.
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"Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don't come to fruition," Nasirzadeh said, according to Reuters following early reporting that Jerusalem was considering a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. "If a conflict is imposed on us … all U.S. bases are within our reach, and we will boldly target them in host countries."
The Trump administration announced a partial evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Iraq and authorized military dependents to leave locations across the Middle East, but it remains unclear how many Americans are expected to depart from the region.
President Donald Trump on Thursday said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution and told reporters "I had to do it."
"We have a lot of American people in this area. And I said, we got to tell them to get out because something could happen soon, and I don't want to be the one that didn't give any warning and missiles are flying into their buildings," he added in reference to the feared military escalation between Israel and Iran.
Defense officials in October 2024 said some 40,000 service members were stationed throughout the Middle East, many of which are in striking range of Iran.
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The U.S. military has at least 19 sites spread across the region, eight of which are considered to be permanent, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
These sites are located in countries that border or are geographically near Iran, including Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.
But Iran's lack of immediate defensive response to Israel's Thursday night strike has prompted questions over whether Tehran would be able to pick a fight with the U.S. and create a third front.
"Given the fact that in January 2020, Iran launched short-range, precision strike ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq for killing Qasem Soleimani - the regime's chief terrorist - this is not a theoretical exercise," Iran expert with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Benham Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. "The regime has proven an ability to land blows at these bases before.
"It is possible, and it's not theoretical, given that the regime has done this in the past and lived to tell the tale," he added.
Ben Taleblu said he believes that Iran, at this moment, is looking to make sure the U.S. is not only uninterested in engaging in direct conflict against Tehran, but could even distance itself from Israel.
"There is a political element to the regime continuously threatening America, which is to try to take advantage of the desire for de-escalation that exists in America," the expert added. "To try to put as much daylight between America and Israel as possible, and to turn America from an ally or partner of Israel, into just observer of yet another Middle East crisis.
"This is how Tehran is politically, trying to put America on the sidelines when militarily, it might struggle - militarily, it would struggle," Ben Taleblu added.
