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US evacuates some personnel from Qatar air base amid Trump threat to strike Iran Iran's Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned Tuesday that Tehran will retaliate for any attacks on the country.
Jared Szuba Jan 14, 2026
WASHINGTON — The US military has begun evacuating some of its personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as President Donald Trump weighs potential military strikes against Iran's government, two officials briefed on the matter told Al-Monitor. The temporary departure began after Trump convened with top national security advisers on Tuesday to discuss courses of action, one of the sources said. The president has repeatedly threatened to strike at Iran's government if its security forces use violence against protesters amid a broad public uprising that has demanded an end to clerical rule. Yet Trump has been evasive about what specific actions may trigger a US military strike. On Tuesday, the president told CBS News he may order "very strong action" if the Islamic Republic goes through with the hanging of at least one protester, reportedly planned for Wednesday. Earlier that day, he urged Iranians to continue protesting and “take over” the country’s institutions if possible, saying “help is on its way.” Iran previously targeted Al Udeid in June 2025 with a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles in retaliation for surprise US air and naval strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities. Top Pentagon officials credited Patriot missile battery operators with thwarting that attack ,which Washington’s top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, described as the largest single Patriot air defense engagement in the system’s history. In a statement released shortly after the initial publication of this story, the Qatari government’s media office confirmed the partial evacuation of Al Udeid Air Base “in response to the current regional tensions.” It was not immediately clear how many American personnel would evacuate the base. The US has evacuated a limited number of personnel from the base amid past tensions with Iran. Iran's Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned Tuesday that the Iranian military will retaliate for any attacks on the country. "If these threats are turned into action, we will defend the country with full force and until the last drop of blood, and our defense would be painful to them," Nasirzadeh said after meeting with Iranian lawmakers. The US military remains without an aircraft carrier in the Middle East as the White House has focused forces in the Caribbean, limiting the Pentagon’s ability to contain potential second- and third-order cycles of retaliation with Iran and its proxies. At least three US Navy destroyers remain in Middle Eastern waters, which can deliver scores of Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles deep into Iranian territory. US F-15s also recently arrived in the region on what military officials described as a regular rotation. Still, the president is likely to retain a bevy of options ranging from influence operations and cyberattacks to strikes on Iranian security forces’ facilities, Al-Monitor previously reported. Reuters reported Tuesday that Iran warned neighboring countries in the Gulf that US bases on their territory could be targeted if Iran comes under attack by the US. Despite damage inflicted by Israeli warplanes during the brief Iran-Israel war in June 2025, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still retains an arsenal of ballistic missiles that can reach the Arabian Peninsula. Al Udeid is US Central Command's (CENTCOM) forward headquarters in the Middle East. The base is estimated to house roughly 10,000 American personnel at any given time, according to the Pentagon's official numbers, along with military staff from Qatar and other regional countries. The USAF’s Combined Air Operations Center hosts staff from 17 nations, CENTCOM said Tuesday. A spokesperson for CENTCOM declined to comment on the partial evacuation Wednesday. This is a developing story and has been updated.
Related Topics Iran-US tensions GCC Relations
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