This is how Qatar escaped Iran’s missile strike on US base and later negotiated Iran-Israel truce

New Delhi: Iran launched a calculated missile attack on US’ Al Udeid Air Base near Doha in Qatar on June 23 in retaliation of America’s dropping of bunker buster bombs on its three nuclear sites. This was an audacious attack amid the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

What exactly happened that evening?

Now, a CNN report says that at the time of the Iranian attack, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and top national security officials had been reportedly in a high-level meeting to discuss regional de-escalation efforts.

“It was a complete surprise,” said Majed Al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry adding that the ground trembled from intercepts near the prime minister’s residence as Qatar’s air defense systems started intercepting the missiles.

Was Qatar informed?

It was tacitly understood and accepted that Iran might attack any of the American military bases in Gulf countries, hence they were on high alert. But it was not expected that that Iran would strike Qatar, long considered a neutral broker in the region.

The impact was felt as far away as Bahrain and Kuwait where roads were closed and shelters were opened up while in the UAE, concerned residents scrambled to change travel plans. American forces evacuated Al Udeid Base, home to over 10,000 U.S. personnel.

How did Qatar dodge those missiles?

Thanks to Qatar’s military radar that started picking up signals of missile activity in the early afternoon and at around 7 PM (local time), 19 missiles were heading for Al Udeid. Qatar quickly gathered 300 troops and activated Patriot missile batteries at two separate sites. Seven missiles were intercepted above the Persian Gulf, 11 over Doha, and one landed harmlessly in an uninhabited part of the air base.

How much damage was reported?

It is worth noting that Iran had informed the USA of the attack but Qatar was not informed. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry claimed that the strike wasn’t intended to harm the residents of Qatari or its interests.

Following the missile attack, U.S. President Donald Trump reached out to Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with a proposal, Israel was prepared to observe a ceasefire, and he urged Qatar to use its diplomatic channels to engage Iran.

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