How Qatar defused Iran's attack on the largest US-run base in the region
Top Qatari officials had been meeting with the country's prime minister on Monday afternoon to find ways of de-escalating a conflict between Iran and Israel, when defense ministry personnel called to warn of incoming Iranian missiles.
The attack, the first on the Gulf, caught them by surprise, according to Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari, who recalls feeling the prime minister's residence shake with the interceptions that quickly followed overhead.
Unease had gripped the Gulf Arab states that morning. The glitzy, oil-rich capitals feared a worst-case scenario: an Iranian missile strike shattering their image of stability after 12 days of war between Israel and Iran, which had culminated in a series of US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Bahrain, where the US Naval Command is located, told residents not to use main roads and Kuwait, which hosts several US military bases, activated shelters in ministerial complexes. In nearby Dubai and Abu Dhabi, some residents were booking early flights out and others stocking up on supplies.
In Doha, nervous residents were on high alert. US and UK citizens in the country had been told to seek shelter and American military personnel had been evacuated from the US-run Al Udeid Base.
Qatar's early warning military radar system, one of the most advanced in the region, and intelligence gathered indicated that Iranian missile batteries had moved toward Qatar earlier that day, the spokesperson said – but nothing was certain until shortly before the strikes.
'It could've been misdirected to lead us away from the actual target. There was still a lot of targets in the region…but towards the end it was very clear, their missile systems were hot and we had a very clear idea an hour before the attack, Al Udeid Base was going to be targeted,' a Qatari official with knowledge of defense operations said.
Around 7 p.m. local time, Qatari officials were informed by their military that Iran's missiles were airborne and heading towards Al Udeid base, Al-Ansari said.
Qatar's armed forces deployed 300 service members and activated multiple Qatari Patriot anti-air missile batteries across two sites to counter the 19 Iranian missiles roaring toward the country, according to Al-Ansari. US President Donald Trump has said that 14 missiles were fired from Iran.
Qatari forces coordinated closely with the US, but the operation was 'Qatari led,' Al- Ansari told CNN.
Seven missiles were intercepted over the Persian Gulf before reaching Qatari soil, he said. Another 11 were intercepted over Doha without causing damage and one landed in an uninhibited area of the base causing minimal damage.
According to Trump, Iran had given the US early notice ahead of the attack. While Doha received intel from Washington, it did not receive any warning directly from the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari – though officials were well aware that the US bases in the region could be targeted.
'The Iranians told us months ago … if there was an attack by the US on Iranian soil that would make bases hosting American forces in the region legitimate targets,' Al-Ansari said.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that warning was reiterated to his Gulf counterparts in an Istanbul meeting a day before Iranian strikes on Qatar.
Iran's National Security Council said after the intercepted attack that its strikes had posed 'no dangerous aspect to our friendly and brotherly country of Qatar and its noble people.'
Still, Al-Ansari rejects speculation that Qatar – given its working relationship with Tehran – might have given a greenlight for the strikes in order to create an off-ramp for regional escalation.
'We do not take it lightly for our country to be attacked by missiles from any side and we would never do that as part of political posturing or a game in the region,' he said.
'We would not put our people in the line of danger. I would not put my daughter under missiles coming from the sky just to come out with a political outcome. This was a complete surprise to us,' Ansari said.
In the moments after the attack, Trump called Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani telling him the Israelis were willing to agree to a ceasefire and asked him to do the same for the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari.
'As we were discussing how to retaliate to this attack … this is when we get a call from the United States that a possible ceasefire, a possible avenue to regional security had opened,' Ansari said.
Doha's role as mediator quickly became key in the aftermath of the strikes. Qatar's chief negotiator Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi spoke to the Iranians while the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was speaking to US Vice President JD Vance. Soon, 'we were able to secure a deal,' Al-Ansaris says – and in the nick of time.
'All options were on the table that night … we could have immediately retaliated or pulled back and say we're not talking to a country that sent 19 missiles our way. But we also realized that was a moment that could create momentum for peace in a region that hasn't been there for two years now,' Ansari said.
Shortly after, Trump declared on social media that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel had been brokered.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump Says He Gave Iran Permission to Bomb U.S. Base in Qatar and…Well, Mostly Crickets?
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. When political scientist Seth Masket shared this story on Bluesky yesterday, I couldn't believe it was real. The right-wing Washington Times reported that at a press conference at the NATO Summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Trump revealed that he had given Iran permission to bomb the U.S.'s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for the American bombing of their nuclear sites. 'They said, 'We're going to shoot them. Is one o'clock OK?' I said it's fine,' Trump said. 'And everybody was emptied off the base so they couldn't get hurt, except for the gunners.' I poked around for other major coverage of this extraordinary admission, and landed only on a transcript of the press conference. And yes, amid a characteristically meandering monologue, Trump actually said that he let a foreign adversary bomb an American military installation. But this story has pretty much come and gone with virtually no attention and certainly none of the outrage commensurate with what Trump said. Let's consider what Trump's verbal diarrhea here could mean. Suppose he is (for once) telling the truth. Wouldn't that represent the most shocking dereliction of duty one could imagine for the commander-in-chief? (A high crime or misdemeanor, perhaps?) Is he saying he let Iran get its retaliation out of its system with what he called 'a very weak response' to bring an end to hostilities? Perhaps Trump simply was rambling incoherently as he basked in his new 'daddy' glow at NATO. What would have happened if a Democratic president, particularly one named Joe Biden, had said he let a foreign adversary fire on an American military installation? As you consider that hypothetical, keep in mind that House Republicans are currently spending their precious oversight time investigating the former president's mental acuity. Trump loyalists are taking up his charge to attack any journalist who reported on intelligence contradicting Trump's claim to have 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear sites in last weekend's strikes. The tenor of this authoritarian campaign is that reporters are not permitted to contradict the president. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth came out swinging against his former Fox News colleague, national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin, in an early morning press conference yesterday. In response to a question from Griffin about whether the Pentagon was certain that Tehran had not moved highly enriched uranium from the Fordow site prior to the American strike, Hegseth lashed out, 'Jennifer, you've been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says.' Later in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt went after CNN's Natasha Bertrand, after Trump had demanded she be 'thrown out like a dog.' Leavitt claimed Bertrand is 'being used to push a fake narrative to try to undermine the President of the United States and more importantly the brave fighter pilots who conducted one of the most successful operations in United States history.' CNN issued a statement standing by Bertrand's reporting. Meanwhile Senate Democrats remain unconvinced of Trump's obliteration claims following a classified intelligence briefing yesterday. Trump ally Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who also attended the briefing, struggled to save face for the president, telling reporters afterwards, 'The real question is, have we obliterated their desire to have a nuclear weapon.' Graham went on to tread lightly around Trump's feelings. 'I don't want people to think that the site wasn't severely damaged or obliterated,' he said. 'It was. But having said that, I don't want people to think the problem is over, because it's not.' Following a pattern of dangerous social media attacks on perceived political enemies, some Senate Republicans have begun to assail Elizabeth MacDonough, the nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian who has struck numerous provisions out of the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill. NBC reports: 'The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens,' Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., wrote on X. 'This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP.' 'THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,' he said. MacDonough was appointed by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 2012, and is well-respected by leaders on both sides of the aisle. But Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, also said MacDonough needs to go and called for term limits for parliamentarians. 'She's been here since 2012; she has a lot of power,' Marshall told reporters. 'I don't think anyone should stay here that long and have power where she doesn't answer to anybody.' While other Senate Republicans seem less eager for such a fight, their failure to firmly and publicly tamp down these inflammatory statements in the current climate is disheartening, to say the least. At Mother Jones, Mark Follman reports on the dangers of Trump's dismantling of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), a Department of Homeland Security initiative tasked with developing evidence-based community programs to prevent political violence and terrorism. The administration has diverted resources from this and other programs to fund Trump's brutal deportation agenda. 'We're at real risk of normalizing political violence as a part of our democracy,' CP3's former director William Braniff told Follman. '[W]hen these norms are accepted at a societal level and encouraged at a political level, they become entrenched and really difficult to reverse.' The Republican goal of eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion and 'gender ideology' is aimed squarely at rolling back hard-won civil rights protections for people who aren't white, straight, or cisgender. The Trump administration is carrying out this agenda, in part, through investigations and pressure campaigns against educational institutions, threatening to cut their federal funding. Yesterday, the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services announced it is investigating the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League over trans girls playing sports, part of what it says is a 'larger initiative to defend women and restore biological truth to the Federal government.' In another arena, the New York Times reports the Justice Department is pressuring the University of Virginia to fire its president, James Ryan, 'over what the department says is the school's disregard for civil rights law over its diversity practices.' In other words, the Department of Justice, which historically has enforced civil rights laws protecting against race discrimination, is now strong-arming educational institutions it claims have discriminated against white people. The Washington Post reports this morning that staffers from Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are setting up shop at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with a 'goal of revising or eliminating dozens of rules and gun restrictions by July 4.' DOGE might want to run roughshod over it, but there's a legal process for amending or ending federal regulations. You can count on litigation over any such efforts, not to mention public outcry. According to the Associated Press, in a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought committed to restoring funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting if the Senate votes down a House-passed 'rescissions' package to make billions of dollars in DOGE-led cuts permanent. Earlier this week I linked to a piece in Wired, reporting that Edward Coristine, the 19 year-old Department of Government Efficiency staffer also known as Big Balls, no longer worked for the federal government. The New York Times had matched Wired's reporting, and then, yesterday, issued a correction. Coristine, who before joining DOGE had been fired from a job at a data security firm for leaking company information, is now a 'special employee' at the Social Security Administration. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking her to 'denaturalize' and deport New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, falsely claiming he failed to disclose material support for terrorism prior to becoming a U.S. citizen. The House Homeland Security Committee has launched an investigation into hundreds of religious organizations and even entire denominations, claiming they were 'involved in providing services or support to inadmissible aliens during the Biden-Harris administration's historic border crisis.' Ominously, the letter the committee is sending religious organizations includes questions about their federal government funding through grants or contracts, their provision of services to immigrants, and whether they have ever sued the government.
CNN
6 hours ago
- CNN
How Qatar defused Iran's attack on the largest US-run base in the region
Top Qatari officials had been meeting with the country's prime minister on Monday afternoon to find ways of de-escalating a conflict between Iran and Israel, when defense ministry personnel called to warn of incoming Iranian missiles. The attack, the first on the Gulf, caught them by surprise, according to Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari, who recalls feeling the prime minister's residence shake with the interceptions that quickly followed overhead. Unease had gripped the Gulf Arab states that morning. The glitzy, oil-rich capitals feared a worst-case scenario: an Iranian missile strike shattering their image of stability after 12 days of war between Israel and Iran, which had culminated in a series of US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Bahrain, where the US Naval Command is located, told residents not to use main roads and Kuwait, which hosts several US military bases, activated shelters in ministerial complexes. In nearby Dubai and Abu Dhabi, some residents were booking early flights out and others stocking up on supplies. In Doha, nervous residents were on high alert. US and UK citizens in the country had been told to seek shelter and American military personnel had been evacuated from the US-run Al Udeid Base. Qatar's early warning military radar system, one of the most advanced in the region, and intelligence gathered indicated that Iranian missile batteries had moved toward Qatar earlier that day, the spokesperson said – but nothing was certain until shortly before the strikes. 'It could've been misdirected to lead us away from the actual target. There was still a lot of targets in the region…but towards the end it was very clear, their missile systems were hot and we had a very clear idea an hour before the attack, Al Udeid Base was going to be targeted,' a Qatari official with knowledge of defense operations said. Around 7 p.m. local time, Qatari officials were informed by their military that Iran's missiles were airborne and heading towards Al Udeid base, Al-Ansari said. Qatar's armed forces deployed 300 service members and activated multiple Qatari Patriot anti-air missile batteries across two sites to counter the 19 Iranian missiles roaring toward the country, according to Al-Ansari. US President Donald Trump has said that 14 missiles were fired from Iran. Qatari forces coordinated closely with the US, but the operation was 'Qatari led,' Al- Ansari told CNN. Seven missiles were intercepted over the Persian Gulf before reaching Qatari soil, he said. Another 11 were intercepted over Doha without causing damage and one landed in an uninhibited area of the base causing minimal damage. According to Trump, Iran had given the US early notice ahead of the attack. While Doha received intel from Washington, it did not receive any warning directly from the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari – though officials were well aware that the US bases in the region could be targeted. 'The Iranians told us months ago … if there was an attack by the US on Iranian soil that would make bases hosting American forces in the region legitimate targets,' Al-Ansari said. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that warning was reiterated to his Gulf counterparts in an Istanbul meeting a day before Iranian strikes on Qatar. Iran's National Security Council said after the intercepted attack that its strikes had posed 'no dangerous aspect to our friendly and brotherly country of Qatar and its noble people.' Still, Al-Ansari rejects speculation that Qatar – given its working relationship with Tehran – might have given a greenlight for the strikes in order to create an off-ramp for regional escalation. 'We do not take it lightly for our country to be attacked by missiles from any side and we would never do that as part of political posturing or a game in the region,' he said. 'We would not put our people in the line of danger. I would not put my daughter under missiles coming from the sky just to come out with a political outcome. This was a complete surprise to us,' Ansari said. In the moments after the attack, Trump called Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani telling him the Israelis were willing to agree to a ceasefire and asked him to do the same for the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari. 'As we were discussing how to retaliate to this attack … this is when we get a call from the United States that a possible ceasefire, a possible avenue to regional security had opened,' Ansari said. Doha's role as mediator quickly became key in the aftermath of the strikes. Qatar's chief negotiator Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi spoke to the Iranians while the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was speaking to US Vice President JD Vance. Soon, 'we were able to secure a deal,' Al-Ansaris says – and in the nick of time. 'All options were on the table that night … we could have immediately retaliated or pulled back and say we're not talking to a country that sent 19 missiles our way. But we also realized that was a moment that could create momentum for peace in a region that hasn't been there for two years now,' Ansari said. Shortly after, Trump declared on social media that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel had been brokered.
CNN
6 hours ago
- CNN
How Qatar defused Iran's attack on the largest US-run base in the region
Top Qatari officials had been meeting with the country's prime minister on Monday afternoon to find ways of de-escalating a conflict between Iran and Israel, when defense ministry personnel called to warn of incoming Iranian missiles. The attack, the first on the Gulf, caught them by surprise, according to Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari, who recalls feeling the prime minister's residence shake with the interceptions that quickly followed overhead. Unease had gripped the Gulf Arab states that morning. The glitzy, oil-rich capitals feared a worst-case scenario: an Iranian missile strike shattering their image of stability after 12 days of war between Israel and Iran, which had culminated in a series of US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Bahrain, where the US Naval Command is located, told residents not to use main roads and Kuwait, which hosts several US military bases, activated shelters in ministerial complexes. In nearby Dubai and Abu Dhabi, some residents were booking early flights out and others stocking up on supplies. In Doha, nervous residents were on high alert. US and UK citizens in the country had been told to seek shelter and American military personnel had been evacuated from the US-run Al Udeid Base. Qatar's early warning military radar system, one of the most advanced in the region, and intelligence gathered indicated that Iranian missile batteries had moved toward Qatar earlier that day, the spokesperson said – but nothing was certain until shortly before the strikes. 'It could've been misdirected to lead us away from the actual target. There was still a lot of targets in the region…but towards the end it was very clear, their missile systems were hot and we had a very clear idea an hour before the attack, Al Udeid Base was going to be targeted,' a Qatari official with knowledge of defense operations said. Around 7 p.m. local time, Qatari officials were informed by their military that Iran's missiles were airborne and heading towards Al Udeid base, Al-Ansari said. Qatar's armed forces deployed 300 service members and activated multiple Qatari Patriot anti-air missile batteries across two sites to counter the 19 Iranian missiles roaring toward the country, according to Al-Ansari. US President Donald Trump has said that 14 missiles were fired from Iran. Qatari forces coordinated closely with the US, but the operation was 'Qatari led,' Al- Ansari told CNN. Seven missiles were intercepted over the Persian Gulf before reaching Qatari soil, he said. Another 11 were intercepted over Doha without causing damage and one landed in an uninhibited area of the base causing minimal damage. According to Trump, Iran had given the US early notice ahead of the attack. While Doha received intel from Washington, it did not receive any warning directly from the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari – though officials were well aware that the US bases in the region could be targeted. 'The Iranians told us months ago … if there was an attack by the US on Iranian soil that would make bases hosting American forces in the region legitimate targets,' Al-Ansari said. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that warning was reiterated to his Gulf counterparts in an Istanbul meeting a day before Iranian strikes on Qatar. Iran's National Security Council said after the intercepted attack that its strikes had posed 'no dangerous aspect to our friendly and brotherly country of Qatar and its noble people.' Still, Al-Ansari rejects speculation that Qatar – given its working relationship with Tehran – might have given a greenlight for the strikes in order to create an off-ramp for regional escalation. 'We do not take it lightly for our country to be attacked by missiles from any side and we would never do that as part of political posturing or a game in the region,' he said. 'We would not put our people in the line of danger. I would not put my daughter under missiles coming from the sky just to come out with a political outcome. This was a complete surprise to us,' Ansari said. In the moments after the attack, Trump called Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani telling him the Israelis were willing to agree to a ceasefire and asked him to do the same for the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari. 'As we were discussing how to retaliate to this attack … this is when we get a call from the United States that a possible ceasefire, a possible avenue to regional security had opened,' Ansari said. Doha's role as mediator quickly became key in the aftermath of the strikes. Qatar's chief negotiator Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi spoke to the Iranians while the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was speaking to US Vice President JD Vance. Soon, 'we were able to secure a deal,' Al-Ansaris says – and in the nick of time. 'All options were on the table that night … we could have immediately retaliated or pulled back and say we're not talking to a country that sent 19 missiles our way. But we also realized that was a moment that could create momentum for peace in a region that hasn't been there for two years now,' Ansari said. Shortly after, Trump declared on social media that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel had been brokered.
