Some personnel ‘advised to leave’ US military base in Qatar: Report

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Some personnel have been advised to leave the United States military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting three unnamed diplomats.

The report comes amid warnings from the US that ​it could intervene in protests currently taking place in Iran.

“It’s a posture change and not an ordered evacuation,” one diplomat said, adding that they were not aware that a ‌specific reason had been given for the posture change.

There has been no comment from the US embassy in Doha. Al Jazeera has reached out to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry for comment.

Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest US base, housing about 10,000 troops.

Last year, more than a week before the US launched air strikes on Iran, some personnel and ‌families were moved off US bases in the Middle East. After the US attacks in June, Iran launched ‍a missile attack on the base in Qatar.

Iran’s ‘warning’ to regional countries

Reuters quoted a senior Iranian official as saying that Tehran had warned regional countries it ‌would strike US military bases in case of an attack by ‌Washington.

“Tehran has told ​regional countries – ‌from Saudi Arabia and UAE to Turkiye – that US bases ‌in those countries ‌will be attacked ⁠if US targets Iran… asking these countries to prevent ‌Washington from attacking Iran,” the unnamed senior Iranian official said.

The comments follow US President Donald Trump’s threats to intervene militarily in Iran over the bloodshed during nationwide protests. Trump called on Iranians to take over state institution, promising that “help is on the way”.

The 24-hectare (59-acre) Al Udeid base, in the desert outside the capital Doha, is ⁠the forward headquarters for US Central Command, which directs US military operations in a huge swath of territory stretching from Egypt in the west to Kazakhstan ​in the east.

In January, US Central Command said it had opened a new coordination cell (MEAD-CDOC) at Al Udeid, in coordination with regional partners, to enhance integrated air and missile defence. The new cell would improve how regional forces coordinate and share air and missile responsibilities across the Middle East.