Hours before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a missile attack on an American base.
The IRGC targeted the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The skies above Qatar were lit up with Iranian missiles. Interceptors were launched to bring them down before they could damage the US military base. Most of the missiles seem to have been successfully intercepted. But at least one managed to get through the air defences. Trump claims that this was intentional. The IRGC however says that six missiles hit their mark.
Al Udeid Air Base was built in 1996. It is the forward headquarters of the United States Central Command, or CENTCOM. Al Udeid was a key base of operations during America’s war on Afghanistan and Iraq. It has been used to launch airstrikes all over the Middle East. It’s important enough that Trump went to Al Udeid personally last month. And he also announced plans for an upgrade, funded by Qatar. Iran chose Al Udeid because of the symbolic value of hitting CENTCOM’s forward HQ. It also wanted to highlight that American strategic assets were within its reach.
Despite the show of force, Iran gave Qatar a heads up. Trump acknowledged this too. He even thanked Iran, because it allowed the US to avoid casualties. However, the Americans had started clearing out the base days ago. Satellite images show that between June 5 and June 18, the US had moved most of the aircraft that were usually parked on the tarmac at Al Udeid. So, the US knew that Al Udeid was going to be a likely target, after they hit Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend. Despite Iran’s retaliation, Trump has called for peace. A ceasefire is now in effect. But will it hold?
