Iran has launched a barrage of missiles at the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions following the US targeting of three Iranian nuclear sites in Iran late on Sunday.
The strikes, announced by Iranian state television Press TV on Monday, marked the start of what Iranian officials are calling Operation Bashayer Al-Fath, or Annunciation of Victory.
“Iranian Armed Forces carried out a destructive and powerful missile attack on Al Udeid base in Qatar in response to US aggression,” according to Iranian media.
The number of missiles launched was equal to “the number of bombs the US used in its attack on our nuclear facilities,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said.
Here is a roundup of the key reactions:
United Nations
The UN warned against further escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
"I haven't seen the reports you mentioned. But, obviously, any increase in military activities or continued retaliation, as the secretary-general (Antonio Guterres) warned, just increases destabilisation," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference.
Dujarric also warned that the latest escalation "pushes us deeper into what he (Guterres) referred to yesterday as this rathole of retaliation."
Asked whether UN personnel based in Qatar had been ordered to move, he said: "I have not heard of any movement."
Qatar
Qatar condemned Iran’s missile strike on the US air base located on its territory, calling the attack a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty and airspace.
The Gulf state said it reserves the right to respond in line with international law, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson on X following a missile attack by Iran in retaliation for weekend US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Majed al-Ansari expressed Qatar’s “strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” calling it “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter.”
He stressed that “Qatar reserves the right to respond proportionately and directly to this blatant aggression, in accordance with international law.”
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia lambasted Iran for its "unjustifiable" attack, offering to deploy "all its capabilities" to support Doha, with whom it has had fraught relations in the past.
Riyadh said it "condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the aggression launched by Iran against the sisterly State of Qatar... This is unacceptable and unjustifiable under any circumstances. The Kingdom affirms its solidarity and full support for... Qatar and offers all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in any measures it takes," Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Jordan
Jordan also “strongly” condemned Iranian “aggression” against Qatar, calling it “blatant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty, international law.
France
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed solidarity with Qatar.
Macron called for a return to diplomacy to end what he called "the spiral of chaos" after the strikes.
Egypt
Egypt condemned Iranian attack on US base in Qatar, expressing its “deep concern over dangerous, rapid escalation occurring in the region.”
Kuwait
Kuwait also condemned the attack on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, expressed solidarity with the Gulf country.
Oman
Oman also condemned the attack and voiced its support for the Qatari nation.
Israel
The Israeli military said that Iran's retaliatory attack on US military bases proved that the country was a threat to "the entire world".
"I want to say that this is further proof of hostility and violence and of the fact that Iran is a terrorist state, which threatens not only Israel, but the entire Middle East, including its neighbours and the entire world," military spokesperson Effie Defrin told reporters.
