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 official said.
Following the attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a post X 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 later added that 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 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.
“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”
Flares were visible over Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Monday. It was initially not immediately known if this was the air defence system or missiles.
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. (AlJazeera)
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