Iran launches attacks on U.S. base in Qatar after American bombing
U.S. Defence Department official says no casualties at Qatar base
Iran launched a limited missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites but indicating it was prepared to step back from escalating tensions in the volatile region. U.S. officials reported no casualties.
Qatar condemned the attack on Al Udeid Air Base but said it successfully intercepted the short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
Iran said the attack matched the number of bombs dropped by the U.S. on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Iran also said it targeted the base because it was outside of populated areas.
Those comments, made immediately after the attack, suggested Iran wanted to de-escalate with the United States, something U.S. President Donald Trump himself said after the strikes early Sunday on Iran.
However, Israel's war on Iran continues, with the Israeli military expanding its campaign on Monday to target sites symbolic for the country's theocracy.
Iran announced the attack on state television as martial music played. A caption on screen called it "a mighty and successful response" to "America's aggression."
Earlier reports that a missile was launched at a base housing American forces in Iraq were a false alarm, a senior U.S. military official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said debris from a malfunctioning Iranian missile targeting Israel had triggered an alert of an impending attack on the Ain al-Assad base.
Qatar's Foreign Affairs Ministry said the attack by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was "a flagrant violation of Qatar's sovereignty, its airspace, and international law."
Al Udeid is also home to the Combined Air Operations Center, which provides command and control of air power across the region, as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, the largest such wing in the world.
Just before the explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social media platform X: "We neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer."
In the past, Iran has threatened American forces at Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command. Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, maintains diplomatic relations with Iran and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran.
Israel, Iran trade strikes
Earlier in the day, Israel expanded its war against Iran to include targets associated with the country's struggling theocracy, striking the gate of a Tehran prison notorious for holding political activists and hitting the headquarters of the military force that suppressed recent protests.
As plumes of thick smoke rose over Tehran, Israel was attacked with yet another barrage of Iranian missiles and drones. The persistent fire has become a reality for civilians in both countries since Israel started the war to target Tehran's nuclear program.
On the 11th day of the conflict, Israel said it attacked "regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran," but Israeli officials insisted they did not seek the overthrow of Iran's government, their archenemy since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Israeli military warned Iranians that it would continue to attack military sites around Tehran over "the coming days" as its focus has shifted to symbolic targets as well. The military issued the warning on X, though Iranians are struggling to access the outside world as an internet shutdown has crippled the country.
The latest strikes unfolded only hours after Trump openly raised the possibility himself of regime change.
"If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???" he asked on his Truth Social website.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Trump was "simply raising a question." However, suggestions of overthrowing the Iranian government drew new anger from Tehran, which insists it will not negotiate at this time and is threatening to retaliate directly against either American troops or interests in a Mideast already inflamed by the still-raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
- Are you a Canadian currently in the Middle East? We want to hear from you. Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.
With files from CBC News and Reuters