WASHINGTON (AP) — Some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate by Wednesday evening, according to a U.S. official and the Gulf country, as President Donald Trump has warned of possible action after a deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran.
The decision came as a senior official in Tehran brought up the country's retaliatory attack in June at Al Udeid Air Base outside Doha, Qatar.
The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, described the move at the base as precautionary and said such measures also were being taken across the region. The official, citing the need for operational security, would not go into further detail, including whether the evacuation was optional or mandatory, whether it affected troops or civilian personnel, or how many people were advised to leave.
The anti-government demonstrations in nearby Iran began in late December, and Trump has said he is willing to conduct military operations against Iran if the Tehran government continues to kill and arrest protesters.
Trump said Tuesday that he believes the killing is “significant ” and that his administration would “act accordingly.” He has noted that he was cutting off the prospect of talks with Iranian officials and told Iranian citizens that “help is on its way,” without giving more details.
Qatar notes ‘regional tensions’
Qatar said the measures at Al Udeid were being “undertaken in response to the current regional tensions.”
“The State of Qatar continues to implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and residents as a top priority, including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities,” Qatar’s international media office said on the social platform X.
The base, which hosts thousands of American service members, was targeted by Iran in June in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote on X that “the #US President, who repeatedly talks about the futile aggression against #Iran’s nuclear facilities, would do well to also mention the destruction of the US base in #Al-Udeid by Iranian missiles.”
“It would certainly help create a real understanding of Iran’s will and ability to respond to any aggression,” he added.
The U.S. military maintains a variety of troops in the region, including at Al Udeid, but the Trump administration shifted some resources from the Middle East to the Caribbean Sea as part of a pressure campaign on former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was ordered in October to sail from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean along with several destroyers. The carrier USS Nimitz, which helped conduct the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, also departed the region in October.
The Navy had five small ships — two destroyers and three littoral combat ships — in the waters off Iran as of Tuesday.
Iranian and Qatari officials stay in touch
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had a phone call Tuesday with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister.
In a statement on X, Al Thani said he “reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s backing of all de-escalation efforts, as well as peaceful solutions to enhance security and stability in the region.”
Iran’s decision in June to retaliate against U.S. strikes by targeting the sprawling desert base created a rare tension between the two maritime neighbors, with Qatari officials saying it caught them by surprise.
No American or Qatari personnel was harmed, the U.S. military’s Central Command said at the time, noting that they worked together to defend the base. A Qatari military officer said one of 19 missiles fired by Iran was not intercepted and hit the base, but Trump said in a social media post at the time that “hardly any damage was done.”
The Gulf state has been caught in the crossfire of other regional tensions, including an Israeli strike in September on the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Doha while the group’s top figures had been gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The Pentagon declined to comment on questions about the changes at Al Udeid. The State Department had no immediate comment on the potential for any security alerts to be issued for American diplomats or other civilians in Qatar.
In June, the embassy had issued a brief shelter-in-place advisory to U.S. citizens in Doha but stopped short of evacuating diplomats or advising Americans to leave the country.
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Amiri reported from New York.
