Iran launches attack on largest US base in the Middle East and warns Trump: ‘The gates of hell will open’
Iran has launched attacks on America’s largest base in the Middle East as it warned Donald Trump that ‘the gates of hell will open.’
The Islamic regime’s army said Tuesday its forces were launching attacks on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar – which hosts up to 10,000 troops and serves as a major forward headquarters for US Central Command.
‘The destructive combat drones of the army’s ground, air, and naval forces… targeted the military areas of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories and the bases of American forces in Al-Udeid, Qatar,’ Iran’s army said in a statement. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage to the base.
The war has rapidly engulfed the entire Middle East with Iran launching hundreds of drones at Israel, America’s Arab allies Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE, and US bases in the region.
Trump hit out at reports today that the US is running out anti-drone missiles, claiming America has ‘unlimited mid to upper tier weaponry’. The President said that Iran’s military and leadership ‘is gone’, adding that they are requesting to talk. ‘Too late’, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
But the Iranians are vowing to continue the fight. Ali Mohammad Naini, of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told Iranian state TV: ‘The gates of hell will open more and more, moment by moment, upon the United States and Israel .’
The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia sent out a security alert shortly after 8am EST warning of ‘imminent’ missile and drone attacks over the city of Dhahran, a major center for the oil industry and the headquarters of Aramco.
‘Do not come to the US Consulate. Take cover immediately in your residence on the lowest available floor and away from windows. Do not go outside,’ the warning said.
Smoke plumes rise following missile strikes in Tehran on March 1
Smoke rises from an area in the direction of Al Udeid Air Base, which houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force and foreign forces including the US
This US Navy handout photo released by US Central Command public affairs shows an F-35C Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, being staged for flight operations on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 2
This US Navy handout photo released by US Central Command public affairs shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) firing a Tomahawk land attack missile in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 1
This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a F/A-18E Super Hornet launching from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on Monday
Donald Trump speaks during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Monday
The warning comes after the embassy in Riyadh was closed after an attack by two drones overnight.
US-Israel strikes, which Iran says have killed almost 800 people, are expected to carry on for up to four to five weeks, but Trump has warned they could go on for ‘far longer.’
The US ordered the evacuation of ‘hundreds of troops’ from Al Udeid in January as a precaution amid the escalating tensions, according to reports. But a US official later denied that there had been a large-scale evacuation from the base.
Iran expanded its targets Tuesday, striking the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia as Washington began to pull many staff out of the Middle East. The U.S. and Israel battered Iran with airstrikes in what President Donald Trump suggested was just the start of a war that has severely disrupted the world’s supply of oil and gas, international shipping, and air travel.
The conflict escalated further on its fourth day, with Israel sending new ground troops into Lebanon and explosions ringing out in Iran’s capital. Hundreds of people have been killed, the vast majority in Iran.
The spiraling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end. Trump said it could last four to five weeks — but that the U.S. was prepared to go longer. He seemed to leave open the possibility for more extensive U.S. military involvement, telling the New York Post on Monday that he was not ruling out the possibility of boots on the ground.
Still, the administration’s objectives remain unclear. The initial U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government.
Since then, however, senior administration officials have said regime change was not the goal. Trump’s initial announcement of the strikes listed several grievances, from concerns about Iran’s nuclear and missile programs to its leadership.
An attack from two drones on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh caused a ‘limited fire,’ according to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry, and the embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound. It followed an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait that announced Tuesday it had been closed until further notice.
The U.S. State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the U.S. has urged citizens to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries, as have many other countries, though with much of the airspace closed many remained stranded.
The U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed at least 787 people, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. In Israel, where Iranian missiles struck several locations, 11 people were killed. The Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah has also attacked Israel, whose retaliatory strikes killed 52 people in Lebanon.
The U.S. military has confirmed six deaths of American service members. Three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Across Iran’s capital, explosions rang out throughout the night into Tuesday, with aircraft heard overhead. Strikes caused two explosions at a broadcasting facility in Tehran, Iranian state TV said, adding that no one was injured.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site had sustained ‘some recent damage,’ though there was ‘no radiological consequence expected.’
The US hit Natanz during the 12-day war in June, when Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained, however, that Iran was rebuilding ‘new sites, new places’ underground for making atomic bombs. He offered no evidence to support his claim.
‘We had to take the action now and we did,’ Netanyahu told Fox News Channel’s Hannity.
Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, though it has maintained its right to and says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed limited activity at two Iranian nuclear sites before the war. Analysts said Tehran was likely assessing damage from the 2025 strikes and possibly salvaging what remained.
The expansion of Iranian retaliation across the Gulf and the intensity of the Israeli and American attacks, Khamenei’s killing and the lack of any apparent exit plan suggested the conflict could be prolonged.
Trump said Monday that operations are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared ‘to go far longer than that.’ He later added the U.S. had a ‘virtually unlimited supply’ of munitions.
‘Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies,’ he wrote on social media.
Iran has hit many countries deemed safe havens in the Mideast in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli strikes. Recent targets included two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain. The centers in the UAE were hit, while a drone struck near the one Bahrain, causing damage, the company said.
Iran has also struck energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and attacked several ships Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, sending global oil and natural gas prices soaring.
‘The Strait of Hormuz is closed,’ declared Iranian Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, vowing that any ships that passed through it would be set on fire.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari vowed that Iranian attacks on the gas-rich country ‘will not go unanswered.’
The conflict has spread to Lebanon, where Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on Monday, prompting Israel to retaliate.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had moved additional troops into southern Lebanon and taken new positions on several strategic points close to the border.
Israel also hit Beirut with more airstrikes, saying it was targeting ‘Hezbollah command centers and weapons storage facilities.’ Explosions could be heard and smoke seen in a southern suburb of Beirut.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the Lebanese army was evacuating some of its border positions. A senior Hezbollah official, Mohamoud Komati, said the group now had no option but to fight Israel.
