File image.
The June 23 Iranian missile attack on the United States Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar likely hit a geodesic dome housing secure communications equipment, satellite images published on July 10 revealed.
The attack, which saw Iran firing some 14 short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles at Al Udeid, was carried out in response to the U.S. attack on the Iranian nuclear sites of Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow that took place a day earlier. The exchange marked the end of Israel’s 12-day war on the Islamic Republic.
U.S. President Donald Trump described the attack as a “very weak response.” He said that 13 of the missiles launched by Iran were successfully intercepted and one was “set free” as it was going in a “non threatening” direction.
“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” he wrote on his website Truth Social.
Interestingly, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at the time that the base’s communications had been disconnected.
“All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the U.S. command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyst by the Associated Press show the geodesic dome visible at Al Udeid on the morning of June 23, just hours before the attack. The U.S. Air Force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, in 2016 announced the installation of the $15 million piece of equipment, known as a modernized enterprise terminal.
Images taken June 25 and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building.
The London-based satellite news channel Iran International also reported the damage, citing satellite images taken by a different provider.
Overall, it appears that Iran managed to inflict some damage on Al Udeid, proving that U.S. military assets in the Middle East were within the reach of its offensive means. The Trump administration will likely take notes of this going forward, especially that Israel is currently planning some sort of a new confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
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