Iran launched a missile attack on Monday against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military installation in the region. However, Qatari air defenses successfully intercepted the missiles, and no casualties or damage were reported at the American base.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after explosions were witnessed in the skies over Qatar. The missile strike followed U.S. airstrikes on Saturday that targeted three key nuclear facilities in Iran, prompting expectations of retaliation.
A U.S. defense official confirmed the incident:
“I can confirm that Al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today. At this time, there are no reports of U.S. casualties. We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack in strong terms. Spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari stated:
“The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter. We affirm that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law.”
Iranian state media portrayed the attack as a successful response to U.S. aggression. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media:
“We were neither the initiators of war nor its seekers; but we will not leave aggression against Great Iran unanswered. With all our being, we will stand for the security of this Dear Nation and respond to every wound inflicted on Iran’s body with faith, reason, and resolve.”
About 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed at Al Udeid Air Base. American officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had anticipated possible Iranian retaliation.
“They’ll attack our bases. And those are our bases, and we’re going to defend our personnel,” Rubio said in a television interview. “We’ll impose costs on Iran if they attack American personnel, whether they do it directly or through proxies.”
