Following reports of Iranian strikes on Qatar, Doha clarified that it successfully intercepted an Iranian missile attack targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in the country. However, Iran's Mehr News claimed that three hit the Al Udeid Air Base.
Al-Udeid air base, which has around 10,000 US troops, is the forward headquarters for US Central Command CENTCOM. Iran reportedly gave advance warning of the attack to Qatar, folllowing which Doha closed its air space.
Qatar slammed the Iranian strike, calling it a "flagrant violation of sovereignty". The defence ministry of the Gulf nation said there are no casualties. "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," said the ministry.
“Thanks to God and the vigilance of the armed forces personnel and the precautionary measures taken, the incident resulted in no deaths or injuries," it stated.
The ministry confirmed that the Qatari airspace and territory are safe, adding that its armed forces are "fully prepared to deal with any threat".
The government urged citizens and expatriates to follow official sources for directives and the latest developments.
Axios had earlier reported that Iran fired six missiles targeting US troops in Qatar. Iran said its missile attack in Qatar matched the number of bombs dropped by the US on its nuclear sites, hinting its likely desire to de-escalate. Tehran added that it attacked the base as it was outside of populated areas.
The Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, which also houses US troops, was also targeted. The retaliatory strikes came a day after the US launched a surprise attack on June 22 morning on Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.