Iran fired missiles at a US military base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation for US air strikes on the regime’s nuclear facilities over the weekend — a response President Trump mocked as “very weak” on social media.
“CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, IT’S TIME FOR PEACE!” Trump said, capping off a barrage of Truth Social posts in the wake of Iran’s thwarted counterattack.
Iranian officials had reportedly telegraphed the attack to Qatar, and 13 of the 14 projectiles were shot down before they reached their targets, Trump said, dramatic video showed the missiles exploding mid-flight as they were intercepted by Qatari air defenses over the Persian Gulf.
Later, Qatari officials said a total of 19 missiles were launched from Iran targeting Al Udeid Air Base — and that one impacted the facility without any casualties.
The tepid attack could indicate that the Islamic Republic is both running low on missiles and that it’s looking for an off-ramp in hostilities with the US.
“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,” Trump wrote. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” he added before piling on more taunts.
“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost and nobody to be injured.”
A military official told The Post the US has no plan on responding to the “failed retaliation.”
Explosions were heard over the Qatari capital Doha, while video showed air defense missiles being deployed following what Iran called operation “Blessings of Victory.”
A “devastating and powerful missile” was fired at Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement shared by Iran state media.
Bystanders, including NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin, posited videos of projectiles streaking across the sky of the Gulf nation.
Some 10,000 US troops are based at Al Udeid, which serves as the forward HQ for US Central Command.
Iran now claims that it wants peace.
“We are rational enough to start a diplomatic process after punishing the aggressor,” an Iranian official told Reuters.
However, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continued to rattle his saber in a social media post Monday afternoon.
“We didn’t harm anyone. And we will not accept any harassment from anyone under any circumstances. And we will not submit to anyone’s harassment,” Khamenei said in a post on X translated from Farsi.
The White House confirmed the attack on the US air base “by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating in Iran,” a US defense official said on Monday.
“The White House and the Department of Defense are aware of, and closely monitoring, potential threats to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar,” the White House said in a statement.
President Trump was due to meet with his national security team in the Situation Room at 1 p.m., the White House said.
Qatari air defenses “thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles,” Qatar’s government said.
Iran gave prior warning of its attacks to Qatar’s government, and the US had already moved its planes away from the tarmac, according to Axios.
“At this time, there are no reports of US casualties,” a US defense official told the outlet on Monday. “We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.”
The New York Times reported that Iranian officials said they needed to respond to the US strike on the Fordow nuclear facility, but did not want to escalate the conflict with Trump. The officials compared Monday’s strike to the 2020 attack on the US base in Iraq in the aftermath of Trump’s assassination of Qasem Soleimani.
That strike was also meant to be a symbolic response without provoking an American retaliation.
There were no deaths from the 2020 Iranian attack, but 110 US military personnel were later treated for traumatic brain injuries.
The White House said it had anticipated a response to its air strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend.
At least 26 commercial flights headed either to Qatar or the United Arab Emirates were diverted on Monday due to airspace closures.
US drops $500M bombs on Iran
- The US military dropped six “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment plant Saturday night and on two other key sites.
- Prior to the airstrikes, Israel initiated extensive attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and military.
- Satellite images show how part of the mountain protecting the facility was completely obliterated.
- This marks the first time that the US used the 15-ton GBU-57 bunker buster bombs in anger.
- “Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said following the attack.
“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 Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement on X.
“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.”
Doha has historically been the Gulf government with the closest ties with Iran, serving as mediators during conflict and even hosting Hamas officials inside the nation.
Iran later said that it still wanted friendly relations with Qatar, noting the strikes were “far away from urban installations and residential areas,” the secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said on Monday.
The Al Udeid Air Base, 40 miles southwest of Doha, is the largest American military facility in the Middle East.
More than 100 aircraft — including bombers, tankers and Air Force surveillance assets — are maintained at the base, which has stood at the center of America’s counterterrorism operations in the region.
Al Udeid also houses the longest air landing strip in the Persian Gulf region, with Trump touting last month that Qatar had agreed to invest $10 billion to improve that military site.
