NEW DELHI: In an attack named "Annunciation of Victory" or "Promise of Victory" by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, on Monday, Iran has reportedly launched a retaliatory missile attack on the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and another base in Iraq, following U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities — Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan on Saturday night. 

Reports citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency said that Tehran has launched a missile operation targeting US military bases in Qatar and Iraq, in retaliation to US strikes on its nuclear facilities and indicate that Iran fired 6 to 10 missiles at Al Udeid, with Qatar’s air defences intercepting them, preventing casualties or damage. 

Qatar has condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty and reserved the right to respond. Advisor to the Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, said his X platform, "We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations Charter. We affirm that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent to the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law."

Reports say that the U.S. had anticipated the strike, with personnel at Al Udeid and Ain al-Asad in Iraq on high alert, and President Trump was in the White House Situation Room monitoring the situation. The attack followed Israel’s strikes on Tehran, including Evin prison and Fordo access routes, escalating regional tensions. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council claimed the strike used the same number of bombs as the U.S. attack, targeting bases away from urban areas to minimise civilian impact.

Qatar hosts the largest US military base Al Udeid Air Base in the Middle East, with around 8,000 US citizens based there, according to the State Department and is also home to US CENTCOM's headquarters for all its air operations in the Middle East, where British military personnel also serve on rotation.