Some US personnel told to leave Qatar base as Iran touts ‘peak readiness’ for conflict |
Amid concerns of a new round of fighting with Iran, some personnel were advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday and Israel’s official state plane was briefly flown out of the country, as Iran said it was at “peak readiness” for potential conflict.
Tehran has said it will attack Israel and US military bases in the Middle East if US President Donald Trump were to carry out strikes in response to Iran’s mass killing of anti-government protesters.
According to an Israeli assessment, Trump has decided to intervene, although the scope and timing of this action remains unclear, an unnamed Israeli official told Reuters.
Three diplomats told the news agency that some personnel had been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
One of the diplomats described the move as a “posture change” rather than an “ordered evacuation.”
There was no sign of a large-scale movement of troops off the base to a nearby soccer stadium and shopping mall, as took place last year in the hours before Iran targeted the base with missiles in retaliation for US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear targets.
The US embassy in Doha had no immediate comment and Qatar’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest American base, housing around 10,000 troops. Ahead of the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program in June, some personnel were moved off US bases in the Middle East.
Also on Wednesday, Israel’s state Wing of Zion plane took off from the Nevatim Air Force base near Beersheba and headed out over the Mediterranean, landing in Greece’s Crete.
The plane had departed Israel ahead of past rounds of fighting with Iran to avoid it........