Flares were visible over Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Monday, and explosions were also heard.
Iran has said it launched an attack on United States forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, after Tehran said it would retaliate against the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with the Qatari authorities saying missiles were successfully intercepted.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officially confirmed on Monday that it launched a retaliatory missile attack targeting the Al Udeid base, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports. Tasnim said the operation is called “Annunciation of Victory”.
US military officials said that Al Udeid Air Base was the only US military base targeted by Iran, according to the Reuters news agency. The official confirmed there was no impact on the base just outside Qatar’s capital, Doha. A US defence official added 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 US casualties. We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.”
The Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a post X said following the attack that “we have not violated anyone’s rights, and we will not under any circumstances accept any violation against us, nor will we surrender to anyone’s aggression; this is the logic of the Iranian nation.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is ready to respond again if the US takes any further action, according to a statement posted on Telegram.
United States President Donald Trump said said Iran had “a very weak response” and thanked the country’s leadership for providing “early notice” of the retaliatory attack.
“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Loud explosions were also heard, although so far no injuries have been reported. Qatar’s Ministry of Defence says its air defence systems successfully intercepted missiles targeting Al Udeid Air Base.
In a statement, the ministry said the incident resulted in no deaths or injuries, crediting “the vigilance of the armed forces and precautionary measures taken”.
Qatar has confirmed that a total of 19 missiles were fired from Iran. It added that only one of those hit Al Udeid Air Base but caused no casualties.
Reporting from Tehran, media’s Tohid Asadi says it’s still uncertain whether Iran’s latest strikes mark the end of its response to US attacks on its nuclear facilities.
“Whether this will be the final attack, or if more are to come, is still unclear,” he said. From Tehran’s perspective, there may be a sense that the situation is now balanced. But Iran also views this as part of a larger, ongoing confrontation, Asadi added.
Qatar condemns attacks
“The Iranians claim that not only the US, but also European countries, are supplying Israel with the infrastructure and weaponry” used to strike Iranian targets. “So, from Iran’s point of view, it is part of an ongoing battle in which it is being targeted on a daily basis,” he said.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that the missile strike against the Al Udeid Air Base was far away from residential areas in Qatar.
Qatar, nevertheless, condemned the attack as a blatant violation of its sovereignty.
media’s correspondent Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Doha following the Iranian attack, said, “People here have never experienced this kind of environment, so it was certainly a very dramatic experience.”
“But it’s important to understand that this was not intended to harm the civilian population, but it was a clear message to the US government and military that Iran has the capability to launch direct attacks on US military personnel in the Middle East,” added Jabbari.
Marwan Bishara, media’s senior political analyst, said the war in Gaza is setting a lot of precedents in the region and wider international relations.
“Some of them are very reminiscent of the things that happened in the past,” he said, adding that this was the first time Iran targeted a US base outside Iraq.
“It is also new the way the US attacked Iran and the way Israel preventively attacked Iran in its war of choice,” Bishara said.
He added that rapid developments in the widening conflict show that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is both “manipulating the US” and “taking the entire region to an unknown as an indicted criminal”.
media’s correspondent, Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said that the US President Donald Trump was in the Situation Room of the White House.
Initially, his national security briefing had been scheduled for the Oval Office, but it was moved due to these developments involving attacks on US bases – specifically in Qatar.
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