Iran has responded to the USA’ direct involvement within the Iran-Israel battle by focusing on its military assets within the Center East.
On Monday, Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, introduced that bases utilized by US forces “within the area or elsewhere” could possibly be attacked in retaliation for US assaults on Iran’s underground nuclear websites the day past.
Later that night, explosions have been heard over Qatar’s capital, Doha, as Iran attacked Al Udeid Air Base, the most important US army base within the Center East.
Right here’s every thing it’s worthwhile to find out about Al Udeid:
What’s Al Udeid?
Fuel-rich Qatar, which lies 190km (120 miles) south of Iran throughout the Gulf, is dwelling to the US’s largest army base within the area, Al Udeid.
The 24-hectare (60-acre) base, within the desert outdoors the capital Doha, was arrange in 1996 and is the ahead headquarters for US Central Command, which directs US army operations in an enormous swathe of territory stretching from Egypt within the west to Kazakhstan within the east.
It homes the Qatar Emiri Air Pressure, the US Air Pressure, the UK’s Royal Air Pressure, and different overseas forces.
It homes round 10,000 troops.
Earlier this yr, The Hill, a Washington, DC-based newspaper, reported that Al Udeid’s “lengthy, well-maintained runways allow speedy deployment, making it a crucial element of US pressure projection”.
The Hill additionally reported that Qatar’s funding in Al Udeid has saved it “on the forefront of army readiness whereas saving US taxpayers billions of {dollars}”. Over time, it stated, Qatar had spent greater than $8bn upgrading infrastructure.
The bottom has performed a central position in air campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in humanitarian missions, together with the 2021 evacuation of Kabul.
Why is it within the information?
On Monday, Qatar’s Overseas Ministry introduced it had quickly closed its airspace amid threats of Iranian retaliation.
“The competent authorities announce the momentary suspension of air visitors within the nation’s airspace, as a part of a set of precautionary measures taken based mostly on developments within the area,” the ministry stated.
The closure got here a number of hours after the US and UK embassies urged their residents in Qatar to shelter in place out of what it stated was “an abundance of warning”.
Later, information company Reuters cited a Western diplomat as saying there had been a reputable Iranian menace towards Al Udeid since midday on Monday.
That night, Qatar’s Defence Minister, cited by Al Jazeera, stated the nation’s air defences had intercepted missiles directed at Al Udeid.
Was Al Udeid ready for the assault?
Earlier than focusing on Iran’s nuclear websites, it seems that the US began taking precautionary measures.
As US President Donald Trump mulled direct involvement within the Iran-Israel battle, information company AFP reported that dozens of US army plane have been not on the tarmac on the air base, basing its evaluation on satellite tv for pc photos printed by Planet Labs PBC.
Almost 40 army plane – together with transport planes just like the Hercules C-130 and reconnaissance plane – have been parked on the tarmac on the base, the regional headquarters of the Pentagon’s Central Command, on June 5. However in a picture taken on June 19, solely three plane have been seen.
One US official who spoke to Reuters stated plane that weren’t in hardened shelters had been moved from Al Udeid base. Moreover, he stated US Navy vessels had been moved from a port in Bahrain, the place the US army’s fifth fleet is positioned.
“It isn’t an unusual follow,” the official stated. “Pressure safety is the precedence.”
Was Al Udeid concerned in US assaults on nuclear websites?
No.
Previous to the US assault on nuclear websites on Sunday, it was reported that B-2 bombers have been heading to Guam – a ruse, because it turned out.
As all eyes seemed West, seven B-2 stealth bombers took off from Whiteman Air Pressure Base in Missouri within the US at 00:01 EDT (04:01 GMT), in response to the Pentagon. The highest-secret flights flew straight over the Atlantic to Iran.
Not one of the US bases within the Center East have been deployed within the US offensive on Iran.
How has Qatar responded to the assault on Al Udeid?
Qatar condemned the assault on the air base, calling it a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.
“We specific the State of Qatar’s sturdy condemnation of the assault on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and contemplate it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, in addition to of worldwide legislation,” Overseas Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari stated in an announcement.
Iran and Qatar get pleasure from fraternal diplomatic relations. Qatar has condemned the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear websites.
