Iran launches missiles at U.S. base in Qatar
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Less than 48 hours after the U.S. bombed nuclear sites in Iran, Iran hit back, launching missile strikes on Monday toward a U.S. base in Qatar. On social media, President Trump thanked Iran for giving the U.S. early notice, quote, "...making it possible for no lives to be lost and nobody to be injured in the attack on al-Udeid airbase."

It's not clear yet whether the U.S. will see the strikes as an escalation or as a limited response from Iran meant to offer an off-ramp.

Nor is it clear yet what the U.S. endgame may be, since directly joining the fight over the weekend. The Trump administration has given conflicting statements. Here was Vice President J.D. Vance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. We have no interest in a protracted conflict. We have no interest in boots on the ground. Secretary of State Marco Rubio supported this claim on CBS's Face the Nation. It was not an attack on Iran. It was not an attack on the Iranian people.

This wasn't a regime change move. And yet, later that same day, President Trump posted on Truth Social, quote, it's not politically correct to use the term regime change, but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make America great again, why wouldn't there be a regime change? Question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark.

Consider this. Trump campaigned on a promise that the U.S. would avoid the endless wars of the past in the Middle East. Are we on the precipice of another one? From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

It's Consider This from NPR. Iran struck back at U.S. forces on Monday. An official not authorized to speak publicly on military matters told NPR the airbase was targeted by short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Iran says it launched the strikes after U.S. attacks on Iran's, quote, peaceful nuclear facilities over the weekend. Ayyaba Traui is on the ground for us in Dubai. Hey there, Ayyaba.

Hi. Hi. And Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is reporting here in Washington. Tom, I'm going to give you the first question. What more details do we have on these missile strikes by Iran? Well, a defense official said more than 10 or so short and medium range missiles fired from Iran all were shot down by air defenses. And again, no casualties. Qatar's foreign ministry denounced the attack.

they said came from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, calling it a flagrant violation of the country's sovereignty in airspace. We do know that there was a shelter-in-place order before the attacks, and also all U.S. bases in the region were placed on higher alert. Now, Iran claims it also fired a missile or missiles at a base in Iraq, but the Pentagon had no reports of that. Iraq has closed its airspace and also had no reports there of any missiles fired.

Yeah, Betrayal on the ground for us in the region. Just situate us this attack on Qatar. How significant is that? That is a Gulf Arab state. It is friendly with the U.S. Trump just visited last month.

Yeah, we've never seen an attack targeting U.S. troops in Qatar before. You know, Qatar walks a really fine line in the Gulf. It does share the world's biggest underwater gas field with Iran. And a few years ago, if you recall, when Arab neighbors did cut ties with Qatar, closed their ports and Qatar's only border to it, Iran was one of the first countries that rushed to send over food and other vitals to Qatar.

And so, yeah, Qatar was given an advance notice. It did that highly unusual step of closing its airspace for two hours before the attack and then was able to shoot down those missiles. But, you know, also Qatar's leadership does have those close ties with Trump and his Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff. You know, Trump was just in the Gulf, as you mentioned, only last month meeting with Gulf rulers. You know, he was also offered a Boeing aircraft to replace one of his older Air Force ones by Qatar.

But what this attack does is it really just draws in more countries to this conflict as a result of what began as Israel's attack on Iran 10 days ago. Countries across the region rushed to condemn and very strongly worded statements Iran's attack tonight and warned of this spiraling out of control. Spiraling out of control. Although, Tom Bowman, this is not entirely unexpected. It was just precisely this kind of retaliatory attack from Iran that U.S. officials were worried about after they joined the fight over the weekend.

Absolutely. This is a main concern. There were some 40,000 U.S. personnel spread at bases all over the Middle East. And again, they are all on heightened alert because of the attacks from the U.S. as well as Israel during more than a week or so. Now, at some of these locations, including the U.S. Naval Base at Bahrain, military dependents left more than a week ago. And also, satellite photos have shown both U.S. aircraft and ships leaving so they wouldn't be sitting ducks.

Now, it's interesting to note, as Aya pointed out, that the attacks on Al-Hudid were telegraphed by Iran to Qatar. So is this simply messaging? Basically, Iran had to respond and do something because of the attacks on the nuclear facilities. But this was a very limited strike. I was talking with one retired senior officer who said...

Listen, Iran had three choices. Do nothing, go in with massive missile strikes or mount something limited, which is what we see here. But Mary Louise, we're in the middle of this right now. Will this be it? Will more bases be attacked? We just don't know. It's too early.

So many questions still to answer. Among those questions, circle back to something you just said about the concern of drawing more countries into the conflict. Does it seem that the U.S. decision to bomb Iran may have widened the conflict, inadvertently drawn Gulf Arab states that would have been happy to sit on the sidelines and drawn them right into this?

Yes, and this is exactly what they did not want to see happen. They do not want war or to be part of Israel's reshaping of the region of the Middle East. You know, when Qatar condemned that attack on Iran, it also said in that same statement they've long been warning against Israel's escalations in the region. So clearly linking that with today's attack. I've also been speaking with people in the Gulf who say the leaders here see the utility of Israel backed by the U.S. obviously degrading Iran's nuclear enrichment and its missile program. But

But this war directly threatens them now. They don't want to see regime change and chaos ensue in a country the size and scope of Iran. You know, the U.S. history in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe there and the crisis there, these are not seen as successes in the Middle East.

Also, I'm here in Dubai. This place relies on foreign investment, tourism, booming real estate markets for its survival. We saw flights being canceled tonight through Dubai, the world's busiest for international transits and suspension of air travel over not just Qatar, but also Bahrain and Kuwait.

And what should we make of this Trump from President Trump, this post from President Trump just coming through on social media, thanking Iran, saying thanks for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, nobody to be injured. Does the fact that Iran gave advance messaging perhaps signal an attack to an attempt to strike back, preserve dignity, but not ratchet things up further?

Yeah. So Trump says he hopes that, you know, Iran, quote, gets this out of their system now. You know, the thing is, this was measured by all degrees. This was a measured response. You know, I spoke with Badr Asseif, a Kuwaiti academic and professor just after Iran's attack towards this expansive air base in Qatar. And he called this a face saving measure by Iran. Have a listen. My preference is not to have the Gulf in the middle of it all. But I think they had their choices were limited. And.

and going after infrastructure as opposed to humans, as opposed to civilian hotspots, as opposed to closing Hormuz, right? I think that's the least damaging. Very damaging still, but...

among the suite of options that they have, it's the least damaging. Yeah, so what he's saying here is that this attack is damaging to Gulf relations with Iran, but it did not produce casualties and Iran didn't pull the trigger of trying to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which is that narrow waterway between Iran and the United Arab Emirates where a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes through. And he notes the U.S. attack, while unprecedented and also severe on Iran, was very targeted. So he says, look, this could end here, but...

But also the risk of miscalculation in this expanding is still very high. The region is really on edge. Tom Bowman, pick up on that. How worried is the U.S. about Iran attempting to close the strait? No, there's great concern about that. Some 20 percent of the world's oil moves through the strait and into the Arabian Sea. You could see Iran attack oil tankers, maybe try mining the strait. But at this point, Mary Louise, it's mostly talk.

That's NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR international correspondent Ayya Batraoui in Dubai. Thanks to you both. You're welcome. Thank you. This episode was produced by Mark Rivers and Michael Levitt with audio engineering by Ted Meebane. It was edited by Adam Rainey, John Ketchum, James Heider, and Andrew Sussman. Our executive producer is Sammy Yinnigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

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