English
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Chinese (Simplified)
Hindi
Japanese
WASHINGTON — President Trump revealed Monday that Iran gave the US an “early notice” of its plans to launch an attack on a US military base in Doha, Qatar — which caused no casualties.
“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran launched the missiles toward the Al Udeid Air Base — the largest US installation in the Middle East and the forward headquarters of the Pentagon’s Central Command — at around 7:45 p.m. local time Monday, after vowing to seek retaliation for Saturday’s bomb-and-missile attacks on nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
Qatar closed its airspace shortly before the attacks began — an indication that they, too, had been given a warning about the incoming fire.
The president said there were no casualties or damage done — and indicated that the latest round of regional violence could soon be over, if Iran allows.
“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. 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. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,” he wrote.
“CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, IT’S TIME FOR PEACE!” Trump added in yet another post.
The 79-year-old had warned Iran in his address to the nation on Saturday night to seek peace or face more strikes. Tehran’s tepid response, coupled with the advance notice, appeared to be weak enough for the president to offer the theocracy an off-ramp to avoid further conflict with the US and Israel.
In an earlier post, Trump maintained that Iran’s major nuclear facilities were “totally destroyed.”
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine said in a Sunday mornign press conference that it was too soon to tell whether all Iran’s nuclear capabilities were taken out — but added that the operation caused “extremely severe damage and destruction.”
