No initial US casualties in Iran’s strike on US base in Qatar: Pentagon

WASHINGTON — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a retaliatory barrage of ballistic missiles across the Gulf toward the United States’ main air base in the region on Monday, in response to US naval and air strikes at three sensitive Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.

US defense officials said that no American personnel were hurt in the retaliatory strikes, which they said targeted the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar around 7:30 p.m. local time. "US Central Command successfully defended against the attack," one official said. Military officials continue to monitor the situation, another said.

Sirens also sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait on Monday night as the barrage of missiles crossed the Gulf. Two sources on the ground in those countries said they saw no visual signs of incoming fire.

The Iranian attack involved mid- and short-range ballistic missiles fired from Iranian territory, a defense official said, citing the US military's initial assessment. The IRGC released a statement saying the barrage was retaliation for US strategic bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend.

The statement, run by Iran's Tasnim News Agency, opened with a verse from the Quran permitting retaliatory attacks in-kind, but forbidding any acts of aggression during holy months.

If confirmed, the symbolism of the attack may suggest Iran is not seeking to escalate with the United States, leaving a potential off-ramp for political leaders. But US defense officials said they could not confirm that Iran is not planning additional retaliatory attacks.

“We didn’t harm anyone. And we will not accept any harassment from anyone under any circumstances,” a Persian-language X account linked to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posted following the attack.

“We will not submit to anyone’s harassment; This is the logic of the Iranian nation,” the post read, above what appeared to be an AI-generated illustration of a US military base in flames.

Following the barrage, President Donald Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social that no Americans were harmed by the missiles and that "hardly any damage was done" to the base. 

Trump added that Iran had launched 14 missiles, 13 of which were intercepted, while the remaining one was "headed in a nonthreatening direction."

In contrast to the US claims, Qatar's government took credit for the interceptions, saying in a statement that Iran had fired 19 missiles. 

"I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost and nobody to be injured," Trump's statement read.

US defense officials have suggested Al Udeid Air Base — the main regional hub for the United States' 9th Air Force — been at least partially evacuated in recent weeks in anticipation of Iranian strikes against it and other US bases in the region amid Israel's surprise air offensive against Iran.

The New York Times cited Iranian sources as saying Tehran provided the Qatari government with a warning about the attack before it was carried out.

A spokesperson for US Central Command (CENTCOM) referred Al-Monitor to the White House for comment.

Qatar’s government slammed the IRGC's attack on Monday as a violation of its sovereignty and said it reserves the right to respond in a proportional manner.

The retaliatory strikes marked Tehran’s first attack apparently directed at American military personnel in the region since January 2020, when the IRGC launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at a US air base in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region.

The Pentagon initially reported no casualties in that incident, but more than 100 US troops were evaluated for emerging symptoms of traumatic brain injuries over the subsequent days.

Iranian officials telegraphed a vague forewarning ahead of that attack as well, diplomatic sources involved in the discussions told Al-Monitor.

This is a developing story and will be updated.