By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@NYT.
Iran has launched an attack on United States forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after Tehran said it would retaliate against the United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Explosions were heard in the skies over Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Qatar’s Defense Ministry said its air defense had successfully intercepted the missile attack on Al-Udeid Air Base, which resulted in no deaths or injuries.
Al Udeid is the largest US military base in the Middle East, established in 1996. Covering an area of 24 hectares (60 acres), the base accommodates almost 100 aircraft as well as drones. This base, which houses some 10,000 troops, serves as the forward headquarters for US Central Command (CENTCOM) and has been central to operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
The attack came two days after U.S. B-2 bombers and cruise missiles struck nuclear development facilities in Iran.
The price of crude oil fell in trading on Monday after news of the attack broke.
Qatar closed its airspace shortly before the attack was reported.
President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and other officials were in the White House’s Situation Room monitoring developments in the Middle East.
Trump visited the U.S. base in Qatar in mid-May.
Qatar’s Foreign Minstry spokesman, in a statement on X, said, “We express the State of Qatar’s strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law and the United Nations Charter.”
“We affirm that the State of Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression and in accordance with international law,” the spokesman said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran did not start or want war but would not leave what he called “aggression” against the country unanswered.
“We will stand by the security of this beloved nation and respond to every wound on Iran’s body with faith, wisdom and determination,” he said on X.