Iran launches missile attack on US base in Qatar

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted a missile attack on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American military facility in the Middle East and the forward headquarters to US Central Command (CENTCOM), in response to the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites on June 21. President Donald Trump previously warned that any response to the US strike on Iran would be met with overwhelming force.

The IRGC, the military arm of the Iranian regime that defends and promotes the Islamic revolution, took credit for the attack. It framed the operation, codenamed “Besharat Fatah,” or “Good News of Victory,” as a sign that American bases in the region are a “weakness” for the US rather than a strength. The IRGC warned that it would take further escalatory measures if the US and its allies carried out additional attacks against Iran.

A US defense official confirmed to Axios the types of missiles used and that there were no casualties from the attack.

“I can confirm that Al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today. At this time, there are no reports of U.S. casualties,” the official said. A second defense source told Axios that the US had “good advance warning” of the impending attack from Iran. None of the Iranian missiles impacted the Al Udeid base, a US official told Reuters.

The Associated Press reported that Ain Al Assad Air Base in western Iraq, where US troops are also based, also came under attack. However, this report has not been confirmed. US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain have not come under attack, a Pentagon official told a reporter for Al Monitor.

Before today’s attack, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated in a post on X, “We neither initiated the war nor wanted it. But we will not leave the aggression against the great Iran unanswered.”

Qatar said that it successfully intercepted the Iranian missile attack aimed at the Al Udeid Air Base. Majed al Ansari, Qatar’s spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned Iran’s actions, calling the attack “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter.”

President Trump had warned Iran not to respond to the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan and threatened to hit Iran hard if retaliation took place.

“ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 21.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD’s Long War Journal. Joe Truzman is a research analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal.