The strategic importance of US base in Qatar targeted by Iran
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24/06/2025
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France 24
44 minutes ago
- France 24
How Iran's 'telegraphed' strikes on Qatari soil paved way to Israel truce
Monday's missile launches were signalled well in advance, minimising the risk of injury and giving every opportunity to shoot down the projectiles -- resulting in a fireworks display of booms and flashes above Doha. They followed heavy US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, a sudden escalation that raised concerns about how Tehran, after more than a week of exchanges with Israel, would respond. In the event, gas-rich Qatar, 190 kilometres (120 miles) south of Iran across the Gulf, held the answer in the form of Al Udeid, the Middle East's biggest US base and headquarters of its regional command. Targeting a United States base, rather than inciting fury, triggered a calm reaction from President Donald Trump, who thanked Iran for giving "early notice". Qatar condemned the strikes -- Iran's first on a Gulf country's territory -- but its prime minister said the response would be diplomatic and legal, rather than military. Hours after the attack, Trump announced a ceasefire that both Israel and Iran later said they would accept. A source with knowledge of the talks said Doha had spoken to Tehran and "persuaded" it to stop fighting. 'Off ramp' Chatham House geopolitics specialist Neil Quilliam said the attack was "clearly limited" and "intended to satisfy Iran's population that its leadership responded forcibly to the US air strikes on Saturday". Iran had promised to inflict "serious, unpredictable consequences" on the US for joining its ally Israel's campaign against the Islamic republic with strikes on three nuclear sites. The wealthy Gulf states, which host a number of US military sites, had been preparing for days for a possible strike by Iran. A week before Qatar was targeted, Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, tested its civil defence sirens. Also last week, dozens of US military aircraft disappeared from the tarmac at Al Udeid, according to satellite images published by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by AFP. In the hours before the attack, the US embassy in Qatar advised Americans there not to go out, with some other Western embassies echoing the warning. Shortly before the strikes, air traffic was suspended over Qatar "as part of a set of precautionary measures", the country's foreign ministry said. Ali Vaez, senior advisor at the International Crisis Group said Iran's action against Qatar was "symbolic" and "calibrated and telegraphed in a way that would not result in any American casualties, so that there is an off-ramp for both sides". 'Taken this punch' According to the source with knowledge of the talks, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani spoke to the Iranians at Washington's request after the strikes. Trump told Qatar's emir that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, before US Vice President JD Vance spoke to the prime minister "who persuaded Iran to agree to the proposal in a call with the Iranians", the source said. Vaez said the "good relationship between Iran and Qatar is the reason that Iran opted to strike... the Al Udeid base in Qatar". Before the attack, there had been speculation that Iran could target US forces based in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. "I see this as a continuation of Qatar's mediation between Iran and the United States, that it has taken this punch as a means of trying to prevent further escalation," Vaez added.
France 24
44 minutes ago
- France 24
Trump posts NATO chief's gushing message of praise for 'extraordinary' Iran action
"Truly extraordinary": NATO boss Mark Rutte Tuesday sent a gushing, caps-filled, pre-summit note to Donald Trump Tuesday, showing how far he goes to flatter the mercurial US president, who promptly posted the missive online. "Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer," Rutte wrote in a message shared by Trump on Truth Social – and confirmed by the NATO chief's office. Showing himself adept at borrowing the style of the US president, Rutte then turned to the meat of the NATO summit – spending pledges – again giving Trump the credit for bringing everyone on board. "Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win," said Rutte. "You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy but we've got them all signed on to five percent," he wrote. Keeping Trump on board within NATO by all means has been the unequivocal priority for Rutte, as the US leader stormed back to power threatening allies he would not protect them if they did not spend their fair share. To that end, NATO leaders are set to sign up to a pledge to spend five percent of gross domestic product on defence, despite some last-minute grumbling, notably from Spain. Piling on the praise – while adopting Trump's habit of writing in capitals – Rutte said this was "something NO American president in decades could get done." And finally, playing on Trump's known love of pomp and royalty, Rutte signed off with "See you tonight at His Majesty's dinner." Dutch King Willem-Alexander is hosting the world leaders for dinner and has invited Trump to stay over at his palace – an invitation gratefully accepted.
