Iran threatens response to any attack, recalls Al Udeid strike

On January 14, Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that Iran would respond to any attack, recalling a previous Iranian missile strike on the U.S. Al Udeid air base in Qatar.

"The President of America, who repeatedly mentions the futile aggression against Iran's nuclear centres, would do better to also refer to the ploughing of the American Al Udeid base by Iranian missiles," Shamkhani wrote on X, Caliber.Az reports via Iran International.

Al Udeid is the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, hosting around 10,000 troops. In June, Iran launched missiles toward the base following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, causing limited damage.

On January 14, Reuters reported that the United States had begun withdrawing part of its personnel from major military bases in the Middle East as a precaution amid rising regional tensions.

The U.S.-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated individuals, dwarfing tolls from previous waves of protests crushed by the authorities in 2022 and 2009.

By Khagan Isayev