Tensions surged across the Middle East on Monday night as Iran launched missile strikes on U.S. military bases in Qatar and Iraq, in what it described as a direct response to recent American airstrikes on its nuclear facilities.
Residents of Doha, the Qatari capital, reported seeing missiles streak across the sky, followed by interceptors engaging and striking at least one projectile mid-air.
The dramatic scene unfolded shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precautionary measure amid heightened threats from Tehran.
Iranian state television confirmed the strikes, stating that American forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar were targeted. Accompanied by martial music, the broadcast labeled the operation “a mighty and successful response” to what it called “America’s aggression.”
In Iraq, Iranian missiles also struck the Ain al-Assad air base, which hosts U.S. troops in the country’s western region.
An Iraqi security official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack but declined to provide further details.
Just before the explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social 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.