Iran attacks US military base in Qatar
Iran attacks US military base "Al Udeid" in Qatar after the United States bombing Tehran.
Iran bombs the US military base "Al-Udeid" in Qatar. This action comes in response to the United States bombing of nuclear bases in Tehran. President Donald Trump will meet with senior officials to assess the situation. Iran reportedly launched approximately 10 missiles at the Qatari capital, Doha, as well as bases in Iraq as part of Operation Abu Abdullah.
The Qatari Ministry of Defense said the base was evacuated earlier and that there were no injuries. Images circulating on social media show the defense system intercepting the missiles launched from Tehran.
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Iranian attack and immediate impact
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took responsibility for the strike and warned they would react to any threat against the nation’s sovereignty. Iranian state outlets described the attack as a direct reply to recent US strikes on its nuclear sites.
Al Udeid is home to approximately 8,000 American soldiers and is a logistics base of command for American and allied aircraft operations across the region. British troops also transit through this base. It remains undetermined whether some of the missiles hit their targets or if the U.S. and Qatari defense systems intercepted all the incoming missiles as Iran is claiming.
Evacuations, flight diversions, and rising regional tensions
Considering their airspace closure announcement came only hours before the attack, Qatari officials acted more swiftly than many officials in Washington did regarding the escalated conflict between Iran and Israel.Hours before the attack, Qatari authorities warned American and British citizens to shelter in place; they also ordered aircraft landings at other airports to be diverted.
The U.S. warned Iran against retaliation and called for continued dialogue to avoid a conflagration of an armed conflict between Iran and the U.S. Yet, nevertheless, the missile launches opened a profoundly new chapter in an increasingly heightened level of conflict. While the White House has remained silent publicly regarding Iran’s missile launches, it will be interesting to see their new strategies for the ongoing conflict.
This week, U.S. warplanes attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and military sites, starting a period of escalated attacks on Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria that began after the Israeli attacks in Iran last month. Iranian leaders had threatened retaliation before this weekend but had exercised restraint by not directly attacking U.S. assets until this weekend.
