Iran launches missile attack on U.S. base in Qatar

Iran launches missile attack on U.S. base in Qatar

Iran launched an attack on the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Monday, two days after the U.S. struck three nuclear sites in Iran.

Explosions were heard in Qatar, multiple news agencies reported, and photos showed missiles over Qatar’s capital city Doha. Qatari authorities said the missiles were intercepted.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the U.S. base at Al Udeid in Qatar with a “devastating and powerful missile.” Iranian state media earlier announced an operation launching missile attacks against U.S. bases named “Annunciation of Victory.”

A U.S. defense official confirmed that the base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran. At this time, the official said, there are no reports of U.S. casualties, but added that the military is monitoring the situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.

The Qatari government also confirmed the strike targeting the air base, which is located southwest of Doha, and said its air defenses “thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles.” The country’s defense ministry said there were no injuries.

“The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter,” a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement shared on social media. “We affirm that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law.”

A senior White House official said the White House and the Department of Defense are aware of, and closely monitoring, potential threats to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which serves as the forward headquarters for CENTCOM. Thousands of U.S. troops are based there and were sheltering in place.

Air raid sirens also sounded in Bahrain, which announced the temporary closure of its airspace on Monday. Bahrain is home to a U.S. naval base that serves as the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet. An estimated 9,000 service members are stationed there. Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior urged people to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” adding that they should “seek shelter in the nearest building or take cover in a safe, enclosed area until the danger has passed.”

U.S. and Qatari officials had meetings over the weekend and Monday morning to prepare for this attack, according to diplomatic sources, who said the retaliation was expected and calibrated.

Earlier Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Qatar warned Americans to shelter in place “until further notice,” and Qatar’s foreign ministry said the country was closing its airspace “to ensure the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors.”

The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. It came after more than a week of Israeli attacks on Iranian targets and Iranian strikes on Israel.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday that the U.S. had “practically placed itself at the forefront of aggression by directly attacking peaceful facilities.” It alluded to plans to attack U.S. assets in the Middle East, saying “the number, dispersion, and size of U.S. military bases in the region are not a strength, but have doubled their vulnerability.”

All U.S. House and Senate members are expected to receive classified briefings on Iran and the U.S. military response on Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters Monday that Mr. Trump “made an evaluation that the danger was imminent enough to take his authority as commander in chief and make that decision.”

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, questioned the president’s actions, saying in a letter to House Democrats that Mr. Trump has “not presented any evidence to Congress that Iran posed an imminent threat that required immediate and offensive military action.”

“The use of military force, which is offensive in nature, must be approved by the House and the Senate,” Jeffries told reporters in a news conference on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon. “That’s according to the Constitution. It’s not optional, Donald. It’s not.”

Iran’s retaliatory strike bolstered calls from some lawmakers for Congress to intervene and assert congressional authority. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who introduced a resolution last week aimed at stopping U.S. strikes, reiterated Monday his belief that the War Powers Act requires the president to withdraw from hostilities in Iran within 60 days.

“Whether you like it or not Congress will be voting on U.S. hostilities in Iran,” Massie wrote on social media, noting that 57 lawmakers have signed onto his resolution.

But Johnson said, “I don’t think this is the appropriate time for a war powers resolution.”

Margaret Brennan, Eleanor Watson, Justine Redman, Melissa Quinn and Sara Cook contributed to this report.