Iran fires missiles at US airbase in Qatar—possibly a stage-managed retaliation

GULF COUNTRIES - In Brief 23 Jun 2025 by Justin Alexander
In the last hour, Iran has been firing missiles at Qatar. This is an evolving situation, but here are some very preliminary thoughts: Of all the potential targets in the region, Qatar and Al-Udeid Airbase are probably the best defended, including with Patriot batteries.The base, which houses up to 10,000 US troops and its most substantial air assets in the region, is just on the southwest edge of Doha, about 15 miles from the international airport (see map).So far, it seems that all the missiles have been successfully intercepted. Several friends in Doha watched/heard the fireworks show over the city.About half an hour before the missiles were fired, the airspace was closed. Earlier in the day, the US embassy had sent out a warning for citizens to shelter in place.On Friday, well before the US attack on Iran (which did not involve planes from al-Udeid), it was widely reported from satellite imagery that dozens of planes were no longer visible on runways, either flown to other locations or placed in hangars.Iran issued a statement that the action does not "pose any threat to the friendly and brotherly country, Qatar" but Qatar condemned the attack as a violation of its sovereignty and said it reserved the right "to respond directly".There were also strikes on US bases in Iraq, with no casualties currently reported.My hot take, therefore, is that this was a stage-managed retaliation (coordinated by Iran, Qatar and possibly the US, intended to send a message of defiance without causing much, if any, damage. This would follow a pattern that includes the attack on a US base in Iraq after the assassination of General Hossein Soleimani in 2020, or its April 2024 response to I...

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