Iran Launches Missiles At US Bases In Qatar In Retaliatory Strike

Iran has launched missiles at a US air base in Qatar, the Islamic Republic’s Tasnim news agency reported.

Qatar hosts thousands of American service members at the Al Udeid Air base.

Al Udeid is the regional headquarters for US Central Command, which oversees the American military in the Middle East. There are about 9,000 US service members in gas-rich Qatar, which sits just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.

Earlier, the US and UK urged citizens in the country to take shelter and the Qatari government suspended air traffic.

The move comes after the US struck three major nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday night. US President Donald Trump said they were “obliterated” and Tehran vowed to retaliate.

Iran’s missile strike on Qatar was telegraphed and had been expected by the US and its allies, according to another person familiar with western intelligence assessments who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. UK and US diplomatic missions advised Doha-based residents earlier in the day to shelter in place “until further notice.”

Iranian officials also suggested the move had a symbolic element. The number of missiles fired matched the number of bombs deployed by the US, and the Qatar strike “poses no danger” to a “friendly and brotherly country,” the state-run IRNA news agency said.

A Qatari government spokesman said on X that the base had been evacuated earlier.

The move comes after the US struck three major nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday night. Tehran vowed to retaliate for what it called a “grave mistake” by Trump in joining Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, said in a video posted on social media by Iran’s state broadcaster on Monday.

Trump had previously vowed to meet any retaliation with force “far greater” than the US strikes on the nuclear sites. He also floated the possibility of regime change in Iran, although US and Israeli officials Sunday stressed that isn’t their aim. 

Israel had earlier ratcheted up attacks on various Iranian targets in the more than weeklong conflict, with the Israel Defense Forces warning residents of Tehran to expect further strikes in the coming days. 

The Islamic Republic fired several missiles of its own at Israel, suggesting no immediate plans to pare back the hostilities.

Trump’s decision to deploy bunker-busting bombs and cruise missiles on the country’s three main nuclear sites on Sunday pushed the Middle East into uncharted territory and boosted risks in a global economy already facing severe uncertainty over his trade wars.

The US operation — which targeted nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — marked Washington’s direct entry to the war that began on June 13 when Israel unleashed attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military facilities, and killed senior commanders and atomic scientists. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes had a “limited” objective, focused on destroying Iran’s atomic program.