Iran

Iran Launches Counterattack Against U.S. Bases Across the Middle East

Published on: June 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Kai Greet Kai Greet
Stefano D'Urso Stefano D'Urso
Iran Launches Counterattack Midnight Hammer
File image of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. (Image credit: U.S. DoD) Inset: a screengrab showing the interception of one of the ballistic missiles (Image credit: X)

Air raid sirens and air defense missiles have been seen and heard across the Middle East as Iran responds to the U.S. airstrike against its nuclear facilities.

Airspace over Qatar and the United Arab Emirates has been completely closed to all traffic while air raid alerts have been reported for Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, and Ain Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq among others. Early reports from Iran indicate that the country has named this operation ‘Fatah’s Blessing’.

Contents
Air raid sirens and air defense missiles have been seen and heard across the Middle East as Iran responds to the U.S. airstrike against its nuclear facilities.Update 17:40 UTCUpdate 17:55 UTCUpdate 18:20 UTC

Residents of Qatari capital Doha, just outside of which is the massive Al-Udeid base that can accommodate hundreds of aircraft and houses the U.S. Air Operations Centre for the region, filmed videos of massive numbers of air defense missiles being launched to counter presumably incoming missiles.

Some videos have even directly shown missiles intercepting their targets.

Ahead of the expected Iranian response, it has been reported that the U.S. has evacuated large numbers of personnel and aircraft from its Middle East bases. Some of these aircraft had been moved as early as Israel’s initial attack against Iran earlier in the month. As yet unconfirmed reports have said that aircraft have been scrambled from U.S. bases, such as Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia. Prince Sultan AB is a common location for U.S. Air Force fighter deployments to CENTCOM.

Commercial air traffic has been heavily disrupted by the airspace closures, with air traffic control in Bahrain and other areas that remained open struggling to handle the amount of aircraft requiring diverts. Although airline operations centers have attempted to inform their aircraft ahead of time via ACARS, many pilots have arrived into the region completely unaware of the developing situation.

Qatar has condemned the attack on bases within its sovereign borders and claims all missiles were intercepted successfully with no injuries on the ground.

The Iranian attack comes after a massive long range strike by B-2 bombers, with over 100 support aircraft, by the U.S. against Iranian nuclear sites.

Update 17:40 UTC

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense released a statement saying the missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base has been successfully intercepted. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Spokesperson Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari published a statement saying that Qatar strongly condemns the attack, which has been defined “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter.” The statement added that “Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law,” while calling “for the immediate cessation of all military actions and for a serious return to the negotiating table and dialogue.”

Update 17:55 UTC

The New York Time is reporting that Iranian officials “gave advanced notice to Qatari officials that attacks were coming, as a way to minimize casualties.” The attack was launched because “Iran symbolically needed to strike back at the U.S.,” comparing it to the 2020 reprisal after the assassination of Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is claiming that the IRGC and Iranian Army “pulverized” Al Udeid Air Base, additionally claiming that the number of missiles matched the number of U.S. bombs used on Iranian soil. During Operation Midnight Hammer, the B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

Israel saids six Iranian missiles were detected flying towards Qatar. The number is currently not confirmed.

Meanwhile, videos circulating online appears to show the remains of a Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interception following the defense against the Iranian attack.

Update 18:20 UTC

U.S. officials are now confirming that Al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short- and medium-range ballistic missiles launched by Iran, but there a no reports of U.S. casualties.

Officials also confirm that Al Udeid was the only base attacked and no other attacks have been reported against other bases in the region, even if air raid sirens were activated as a precaution.

The Iranian state television aired a video which is claimed to show the launch ballistic missiles used during today’s attack against the U.S. base in Qatar.

It is worth noting that Al Udeid Air Base was evacuated a week ago, before U.S. assets started positioning ahead of the imminent attack. Aircraft were relocated to other airbases in Europe and the Middle East.

However, even without aircraft, the base still hosts important U.S. assets, such as the local headquarters for the Central Command (CENTCOM) and Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT). Their main headquarters are in Tampa, Florida, and at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, respectively. The base is also home of the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) for the Middle East.

Anyway, Fox News reports that, according to officials, no missile impact were reported at the base.

Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack, affirming its support for Qatar and placing “all its capabilities at Qatar’s disposal in support of any measures it may take.”

This is a rapidly developing situation, and this article will be updated as and when new information is available.

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By Kai Greet
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Kai is an aviation enthusiast and freelance photographer and writer based in Cornwall, UK. They are a graduate of BA (Hons) Press & Editorial Photography at Falmouth University. Their photographic work has been featured by a number of nationally and internationally recognised organisations and news publications, and in 2022 they self-published a book focused on the history of Cornwall. They are passionate about all aspects of aviation, alongside military operations/history, international relations, politics, intelligence and space.
By Stefano D'Urso
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Stefano D'Urso is a freelance journalist and contributor to TheAviationist based in Lecce, Italy. A graduate in Industral Engineering he's also studying to achieve a Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering. Electronic Warfare, Loitering Munitions and OSINT techniques applied to the world of military operations and current conflicts are among his areas of expertise.
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