Iran Fires Ballistic Missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar

What Happened?

Iran has launched an unknown number of ballistic missiles at the U.S. Air Force base Al-Udeid, which is in the nation of Qatar. According to the Pentagon, there were no reports of injuries or fatalities among the nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there.

Qatari officials condemned the strike, adding that their air defense system intercepted the incoming projectiles, which were seen over the sky of Qatar’s capital, Doha. Iranian state media claimed the attack was in retaliation for the airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend. 

Why it Matters

Iran’s leaders have now made good on their promise to retaliate against the U.S. for the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. But it remains unclear if the attack on Al-Udeid represents the total Iranian response or if there is more to come. The attack marks another escalation in the current war since it is the first time since the war began that Iran has directly targeted the U.S. military. 

Al-Udeid is an enormous military base home to thousands of American military personnel and civilian contractors. I went through Al-Udeid on my way to Iraq and on my way back from deployment to Iraq, and even in 2006 it was already a gigantic operational hub. It is still a major transit point for U.S. military forces in the region. Al-Udeid is one of the largest U.S. military installations in the Middle East, which may be why Iran chose to target it with their missiles. 

Iran’s pattern thus far has been to hit areas they target repeatedly, so it would be a mistake to consider the threat against Al-Udeid or other American installations in the region to be over. Since the attack caused no casualties, the Trump Administration may not order any further attacks against Iran, although they will be under pressure both politically and from the U.S. military to respond forcefully. 

The danger of a retaliatory attack from U.S. forces is that it will lock the U.S. and Iran into a pattern of retaliation that will spiral out of control. The danger of not responding to the Al-Udeid attack is Iran may feel emboldened to strike again or at other American military bases in the region. As is usually the case with military conflicts in the Middle East, there are few good options for the U.S. and lots of bad ones. 

How it Affects You

Iran and the U.S. are now in a state of war, despite comments from top U.S. officials that its over. One lesson from being in combat is that the enemy gets a vote. If you say the war is over but your enemy says it isn’t, then it isn’t. For hostilities to end the vote has to be unanimous and right now with Iran it isn’t.