{"id":31649,"date":"2025-06-23T19:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T19:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=31649"},"modified":"2025-06-23T19:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T19:11:53","slug":"iran-launches-missile-strikes-at-us-air-base-in-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=31649","title":{"rendered":"Iran launches missile strikes at US air base in Qatar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\">Your guide to what Trump\u2019s second term means for Washington, business and the world<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=67207725-da79-4c3b-9ced-0479adb0da06&amp;newsletter-id=65b8fec772badb00166eafc6\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Iran fired missiles at an American military base in Qatar as Tehran struck against the US in retaliation for Donald Trump\u2019s bombing of the Islamic regime\u2019s main nuclear sites at the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Residents heard explosions booming across Doha on Monday evening as air defences sought to intercept up to 10 missiles that were fired towards Al Udeid base.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/a47ddb98-9b35-48ae-b5d7-f62ecd3433e4\" data-trackable=\"link\">sprawling base<\/a> just outside the Qatari capital is the US Central Command\u2019s regional headquarters and typically hosts about 10,000 American troops. But most personnel were evacuated last week and aircraft and other equipment moved as regional tensions soared.<\/p>\n<p>Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said: \u201cQatari air defences thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles.\u201d He said there were no casualties. <\/p>\n<p>The US and Qatar were aware of the imminent threat of an attack hours before the missiles were launched, a person familiar with the matter told the FT.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/78f549b8-25ac-4378-a129-da09576c6be9\" data-trackable=\"link\">Oil prices fell<\/a> as traders calculated that the attack was largely symbolic, and could signal an effort by Iran to de-escalate the conflict, despite the risk that it could trigger a robust response.<\/p>\n<p>Qatar\u00a0had earlier closed its airspace in expectation of an Iranian attack. The US and UK embassies in Doha had also told their citizens in the small Gulf state to \u201cshelter in place\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>The Iranian attack came just over a day after Trump ordered the US military to drop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/3714b0eb-846e-4a2e-b429-3607f8e6bba6\" data-trackable=\"link\">\u201cbunker buster\u201d bombs on Fordow and Natanz<\/a> \u2014 Iran\u2019s main nuclear sites \u2014 as Washington joined Israel\u2019s 10-day war against the Islamic republic. <\/p>\n<p>The attack on Al Udeid, which also serves as the Royal Air Force\u2019s regional headquarters, also risks dragging the UK into the conflict. On Monday UK foreign secretary David Lammy said the UK was ready to defend its personnel and assets in the region and that \u201cof its allies and partners\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly before the attack, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of Iran\u2019s armed forces, said Trump had \u201cviolated all international norms by breaching the airspace of our beloved country\u201d and \u201cthe crime itself and the blatant disrespect cannot go unanswered\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>Iran launched a similar attack against the US in 2020 when it fired missiles at two US bases in Iraq after Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran\u2019s most powerful commander. The assault was telegraphed and caused no damage, and both sides stepped back from the brink of a full-blown war. <\/p>\n<p>But a regional official said the attack and threat to countries in the Gulf \u201cwill undoubtedly impact the relationship-building efforts that have been under way between\u201d Iran and its Arab neighbours.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Qatar\u2019s Ansari said the Gulf state \u201creserves the right to respond directly\u201d, raising the possibility of an expanding regional confrontation, but also called for an \u201cimmediate cessation\u201d of military actions.<\/p>\n<p>International airlines including British Airways, Air France, Kuwait Airways and Etihad Airways had previously cancelled or rerouted some destinations in the Gulf.<\/p>\n<p>BP, TotalEnergies and Eni have also begun to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/974d24d6-fc95-4d3e-8a49-96a18b522870\" data-trackable=\"link\">evacuate foreign staff<\/a> from oilfields in southern Iraq amid fears that Iran could target energy infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Regional states have been on edge since Israel launched its war against Iran 10 days ago, fearing an attack on US bases or energy facilities. They also worry that Iran could seek to block the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which around a quarter of the world\u2019s seaborne crude passes.<\/p>\n<p>Gulf states, including Qatar, have previously told the Trump administration that they would not allow the US to use bases on their territory to launch attacks against Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The US has about 40,000 troops in the Middle East at bases and military sites in Qatar, Bahrain, which hosts the Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Syria.<\/p>\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"aside-label\" class=\"n-content-recommended--single-story n-content-recommended--inset\" data-component=\"recommended\">\n<p class=\"n-content-recommended__title o3-type-body-highlight\">Recommended<\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser o-teaser--article o-teaser--small o-teaser--stacked o-teaser--has-image js-teaser\" data-id=\"a47ddb98-9b35-48ae-b5d7-f62ecd3433e4\">\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-container js-teaser-image-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/a47ddb98-9b35-48ae-b5d7-f62ecd3433e4\" data-trackable=\"image-link\" data-trackable-context-story-link=\"image-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-placeholder\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2288\/1287\"><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The US also has 2,500 troops in Iraq and hundreds in Syria who could be vulnerable to attacks from Iranian-backed Shia militants as well as from Iran\u2019s missiles.<\/p>\n<p>Israel widened its strikes on Iran earlier on Monday, hitting sites in Tehran, including the notorious Evin prison, and the headquarters of the Basij, a force linked to the elite Revolutionary Guards.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s defence minister Israel Katz said the military would continue striking Iran as long as the Islamic republic kept firing at Israel.<\/p>\n<p>But two people familiar with the Israeli government\u2019s thinking said that given the damage it had already done to Iran\u2019s ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities, it was looking for ways to wind up the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael can \u2018close\u2019 this operation in the coming days, and is willing to. It depends on the US, the international\u00a0community, and most of all the Iranians,\u201d one of the people said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by David Sheppard<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/67207725-da79-4c3b-9ced-0479adb0da06\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump\u2019s second term means for Washington,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}