Iran fired a volley of at least six ballistic missiles at U.S. military installations in Qatar on Monday, the first direct Iranian strike on American forces since the two countries traded blows earlier this month, according to U.S. and regional officials.
Explosions rattled the capital, Doha, shortly after 6 p.m. local time and were heard near Al-Udeid Air Base, the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command and home to roughly 10,000 troops. Casualty figures were not immediately available, and the Pentagon said it was still assessing damage.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack—dubbed “Promise of Victory”—was retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites two days earlier. State television showed video that it claimed captured launches from western Iran, but the images could not be independently verified.
U.S. and Qatari air-defense batteries intercepted “several” projectiles, a senior U.S. defense official said, while others fell in open desert outside the base perimeter. Qatar’s government closed its airspace and urged residents to shelter in place, calling the step “precautionary.”
President Joe Biden was briefed in the White House Situation Room and, according to aides, is weighing a range of responses that include additional strikes or accelerated diplomacy through European intermediaries. Congressional leaders were notified under the War Powers Act, officials said.
The attack follows days of warnings from U.S. intelligence that Iran was preparing to target American forces in the Gulf region. Axios earlier reported that Israeli officials had tracked missile preparations inside Iran and shared that information with Washington.
Al-Udeid’s runway operations were suspended, and commercial flights in and out of Hamad International Airport were diverted to Kuwait and Oman. The U.S. Embassy in Doha told American citizens to “remain indoors and await further guidance.”
Iran last fired directly on U.S. troops in January 2020, when more than 100 service members were injured by missile blasts at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad base. Monday’s strike marks a sharp escalation in the latest cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that began after Washington hit Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.
Regional allies condemned the Iranian salvo. Saudi Arabia called it a “reckless provocation,” while Israel, which is waging its own campaign of airstrikes inside Iran, said Tehran had crossed “another red line.”
The Pentagon said additional forces across the Gulf were put on high alert. A U.S. guided-missile destroyer moved into the Strait of Hormuz to bolster air defenses, and Central Command said two F-15 squadrons were repositioned from Kuwait to Qatar overnight.