Iran has claimed it has launched missile attacks on US airbases in Qatar and Iraq following an American strike on three sites within their country.
The claim follows a statement from the US saying they were aware of a possible threat to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
US citizens in Qatar had been told to shelter in place, meaning they should stay at their current location and not venture outside, ‘until further notice’.
The BBC reported that explosions were heard over Doha, Qatar, and the Daily Telegraph says that Iranian media has declared that US military bases in Qatar and Iraq have been targeted.
“The White House and the department of defense are aware of, and closely monitoring, potential threats,” the US government said in a statement.
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The US directly entered the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran at the weekend after it launched Operation Midnight Hammer, in which it used B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and submarines to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran.
While US President Donald Trump argued that Iran must now negotiate, Iranian officials promised there would be a ‘decisive response’ and that the Americans ‘must receive a response for their aggression’.
Per the Telegraph, Iranian armed forces have now claimed they launched a ‘devastating and powerful’ missile attack against the airbase located in Qatar which is used by the US.
Iranian state television played an announcement of the attack against American forces stationed at Al Udeid Air Base, calling it ‘a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression’.
Qatar has today (23 June) closed its airspace amid rising tensions and the threat of an Iranian retaliation against US military stationed in their country.
While Trump had bragged about how the US ‘obliterated’ the targets it struck in Iran at the weekend, the Iranians had promised to strike nearby military bases belonging to any country that directly helped Israel.
Shortly before the explosions, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “We neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer.”
In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp said: “[Iran] will not leave any attack on its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national security unanswered under any circumstances.”
AP reports that Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari has said there were no casualties at Al Udeid Air Base, adding ‘Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missile’.
They also reported that the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq had been targeted.
