Iran launches retaliatory strikes at US bases in Qatar, Iraq – DW – 06/23/2025
Iran has responded to US strikes over the weekend with its own strikes against Al Udeid air base in Qatar. Meanwhile, Israel has said it is carrying out strikes in Iran with "unprecedented intensity." DW has more.
Iran said it fired missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq
Earlier, Qatar closed its airspace amid threats of Iranian retaliation for US strikes on Iran
Iran has said its military was deciding on 'timing, nature, scale' of response to US strikes on nuclear facilities
Israel's defense secretary said the IDF hit Evin Prison in Tehran among numerous other targets
US President Donald Trump suggests regime change in Tehran to 'Make Iran Great Again'As well as launching strikes against a major US air base in Qatar, Iran said it had fired missiles toward a US base in Iraq.
"The operation of Iranian missiles against American bases located in Qatar and in Iraq has begun, and is called 'Blessing of Victory'," the official press agency IRNA said.
Iraqi media earlier reported that a state of maximum alert had been declared at the Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq.
Iran has confirmed that it launched missile strikes against the US's Al Udeid base in Qatar.
Iranian state-run news agency Tasnim cited the Revolutionary Guard Corps saying it had responded to the "clear military aggression of the criminal regime of the United States of America."
AFP and Reuters journalists reported hearing explosions over the Qatari capital Doha late on Monday.
The reports came amid fears of an Iranian attack on the US air base in the country in response to US attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities early on Sunday.
Axios reported, citing Israeli officials, that Iran had launched six missiles at the base.
US President Donald Trump dealt a heavy blow to Europe's hopes to be a meaningful actor in bids to end the conflict between Israel and Iran last week.
First, he branded Europe's efforts irrelevant, then he ignored the EU's calls for de-escalation by bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.
But Monday's apparent irrelevance was not inevitable.
A decade ago, Europe had a seat at the table. The so-called E3, France, Germany and the UK, were key players in negotiating the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal. China and Russia were involved, too, as permanent members of the UN Security Council.
French and German ministers who gathered in Brussels with their EU counterparts on Monday stressed that they think Europe can have a role again.
"Europe has the experience and deep understanding necessary to open space for negotiations that would bring about strict oversight of Iran's destabilizing activities," France's Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters at the talks.
However, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas would not discuss whether and when she and the E3 might hold fresh talks with their Iranian counterpart.
When asked how the bloc was pressuring the Americans to come to the table, she said, "Via diplomacy, of course, via different channels— also talking to all the parties, [saying] that this escalation benefits no one."
The primary victims of the conflict are civilians in Iran and Israel caught up in the crossfire and others fearing spillover in the region. But there is no doubt that Europe has skin in the game here, too.
If Iran were to block the Strait of Hormuz, this could heavily impact European energy security. Kallas acknowledged the gravity of that scenario on Monday. The EU once relied on Russia for fossil fuel imports, and since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the bloc has been seeking out new partners, including in the Gulf.
If exports from that region can't reach Europe, that's bad news for the continent.
Diplomats in Brussels told DW they also fear a spike in oil prices could be a boon for Russia. Moscow has managed to replace its old European customers with other buyers, especially in Asia, and the concern here is that beefed-up oil revenues could help Russia further fund its war in Ukraine.
There are nuances to how EU leaders responded to the Israel-Iran conflict and the United States' role.
EU Council chief Antonio Costa, a center-left politician from Portugal, said he was "alarmed" by the escalation after US strikes and stressed the impact on civilians. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who hails from Germany's center-right, centered her statement on Iran and pressure for the regime to engage in a "credible diplomatic solution."
But EU powers seem to be broadly on the same page on a few key points. They say Iran must never have a nuclear bomb and Russian President Vladimir Putin has no credibility as a potential broker given the war he is waging in Ukraine.
Now, Europe is under pressure to prove it has the credibility and clout to help shift the dial.
As Israeli airstrikes intensify and the US enters the war, Iranians are fleeing to safety, with thousands crossing into Turkey.DW's Julia Hahn spoke to some in Kapikoy near the eastern Turkish city of Van — one of the main crossing points.
Iranian authorities have arrested an individual they accuse of spying for Israel in the city of Hamedan.
The state-run news agency Tasnim said that an individual had been determined to be from a European country, but it did not say which one.
The agency reported that the suspect had entered Iran on a tourist visa. It also said they had been gathering information on Iran's missile systems.
Iran has arrested numerous people accused of spying for Israel, especially since Israel launched its barrage of strikes on the country just over a week ago.
Qatar has announced the temporary closure of its airspace amid fears over how Iran might respond to attacks by the US over the weekend.
The Foreign Ministry said the move was made to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.
Earlier in the day, the US urged its citizens in the country to shelter in place.
The US has a major air base in the country which lies just across the Persian Gulf from the southern coast of Iran.
The US embassy in Qatar has told US citizens in the country that they should "shelter in place until further notice."
The warning came after the US joined Israel's bombing campaign against Iran over the weekend and amid fears of an Iranian reprisal.
Qatar is home to a major US air base.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend American citizens shelter in place until further notice," the embassy said in a notice posted on its website.
Reuters also reported that the British government had issued a similar warning to its own citizens in Qatar.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari stressed that issued security guidelines do not necessarily indicate a real threat.
US authorities told some embassy staff stationed around the Middle East to leave the region a day before Israel launched its bombing campaign against Iran.
Qatar, a popular mediator in the Middle East, is just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons as Israel and Iran exchanged new strikes on Monday.
"My greatest fear is that Tehran gets a nuclear weapon," Rutte said, warning it would give Iran a "stranglehold" over Israel and the rest of the world.
"When it comes to NATO's stance on Iran's nuclear program, allies have long agreed that Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon," he told reporters ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague.
Following a protest action that damaged two military planes in the United Kingdom, the British government has said it would use anti-terrorism laws to ban the Palestine Action activist organization.
The ban would put the group on the same level as Hamas, al-Qaeda and the so-called "Islamic State" and could result in up to 14 years in prison for the group's members.
Palestine Action has carried out several major campaign actions throughout the years targeting sites connected to the Israeli defense company Elbit Systems, as well as other companies connected to Israel.
But a recent action saw two members of the group enter a Royal Air Force base in central England on Friday and spray paint into the engines of military aircraft. Further damage was done with crowbars.
"The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton ... is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action," Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said in a written statement to parliament, referring to the attack on the air force base.
"The UK's defense enterprise is vital to the nation's national security, and this government will not tolerate those who put that security at risk."
Palestine Action called Cooper's ban "unhinged," saying, "The real crime here is not red paint being sprayed on these war planes."
The UK Parliament will vote on the ban on June 30.
Iran has reportedly moved its highly enriched uranium from the Fordo nuclear facility. DW spoke with nuclear expert William Alberque about Iran's relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA.
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US President Donald Trump is reportedly still open to diplomacy with Iran following strikes carried out by US bombers over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
"If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution, which the president is still interested in and engaging in, by the way, why shouldn't the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?" Leavitt said on Fox News.
Trump earlier in the day suggested regime change if the Iranian government cannot "MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Many of Trump's supporters and allies are opposed to the US getting involved in another war for regime change in the Middle East, some two decades after toppling Saddam Hussein in neighboring Iraq.
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A top figure in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said on Monday that his party supported the attacks on Iran by Israel and the US
The remarks came after after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, from the same party, called the US actions "unfortunate."
In an interview with public-service broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Wadephul said, "Unfortunately, there has now been this military action, which the US seemed to feel was necessary."
The CDU's general secretary, Carsten Linnemann, said the German government's support for the attacks did not contradict Wadephul's statements.
"There is no contradiction in, on the one hand, working toward a diplomatic resolution and, on the other, supporting these military strikes by the US and Israel — and that is precisely what this government does," he said. "That is why I consider the actions by the Americans in this regard as right."
He added that "the mullah regime [in Iran] has suffused this world with terror for 40 years."
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed support for Israeli and US strikes on Iran, saying he has "no reason" to criticize them.
In a speech to the Federation of German Industries, Merz said, "For us and for me personally, there is no reason to criticize what Israel began a week ago, and also no reason to criticize what America did last weekend."
Merz is a staunch ally of Israel and has previously commended the "dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us" in Iran.
Before Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran, Merz had spoken out against the Israeli handling of the conflict in Gaza, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and consistent warnings that the enclave is on the verge of starvation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday vehemently condemned this weekend's US attacks on Iranian nuclear installations as "unprovoked" and "unjustified."
Putin made the comments alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who traveled to Moscow for consultation with the Islamic republic's long-time ally.
Although Putin pledged support for the Iranian people, he was vague about what form it might take.
Putin called the US strikes an "absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran," decrying them as a contemptible escalation.
Putin mentioned a strategic partnership signed by Moscow and Tehran a few months ago, only to underscore that it is not a mutual defense pact.
Russia has been a key backer of Iran but has so far kept its distance from the conflict, concentrating instead on its own ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine, which Russia launched in February 2022.
Iran, for its part, has been a reliable supplier of military drones to Moscow in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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