Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Al-Udeid, the American airbase in Qatar, a U.S. defense official confirmed on Monday.
‘I can confirm that al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today,’ the official told Fox News. ‘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 called the attack ‘brazen aggression,’ but said it had successfully intercepted Iranian missiles.
‘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,’ spokesperson Majed Al Ansari posted on X.
‘We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.’
Explosions were heard in Doha, a source told Fox News. Iranian state media reported that ‘Operation Fatah’s Blessing against the American Al-Udeid base in Qatar has begun.’ After the strike, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait issued a security alert limiting base access to only essential personnel and the embassy in Bahrain shifted some of its employees to telework.
Just before the attack, Iran’s President Mahmoud Pezeshkian issued a warning promising not to let Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear facilities go ‘unanswered.’
‘We neither initiated the war nor wanted it; but we will not leave the aggression against #GreaterIran unanswered. We will stand by the security of this #belovednation with all our being and respond to every wound on Iran’s body with faith, wisdom, and determination,’ he wrote on X.
But Iran gave Qatari officials advanced notice of the attacks, Iranian sources told the New York Times. It would be a strategy similar to the response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, where Iran needed to symbolically respond without escalating the conflict beyond what it could handle.
A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said its Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the attack: ‘We warn our enemies that the era of hit and run is over.’
Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and the UAE all closed their airspaces amidst the attack.
The base is home to 10,000 American forces and is the U.S.’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, it serves as a hub for logistical operations for the U.S. mission to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It also hosts Central Command’s (CENTCOM) Forward Headquarters, as well as its air forces and special operations in the region. It also has been used as a headquarters for British involvement in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.
President Donald Trump visited Al Udeid last month on May 15, where he inked a $1 billion military sales agreement with Doha.
Qatar has walked a tight line between friendly relations with the U.S., through efforts to expand the base, and with Iran. Prior to the attack, Qatar suspended all flights and promised to ‘take all necessary preventive measures.’
The attack was not entirely unexpected – satellite images showed the U.S. moved most of its unhangered aircraft out of Al Udeid last week.
Iran vowed to retaliate against the U.S. after American B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker buster bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites.
‘The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam’s fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,’ Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned in a statement.
But Trump warned Iran after Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear hubs: ‘Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.’
The air base also hosts an array of military assets: B-52 strategic bombers, C-17 Globemaster transports and RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s airlift, aerial refueling, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro and Liz Friden contributed to this report.