The Guardian
Iran has said that it attacked American forces stationed at Qatar’s Al Udeid air base. The announcement was made on state television as martial music played, with a caption on the screen calling it “a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression”. The attack came shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precaution amid threats from Iran.
The day so far
Explosions have been heard over the Qatari capital city Doha today, Reuters is reporting. An Axios reporter, citing an Israeli official, said that six missiles had been launched by Iran directed towards US air bases in Qatar.
A Western diplomat told Reuters on Monday that there has been a credible Iranian threat against the US-run al Udeid air base in Qatar since noon. The air base in Qatar is the Middle East’s largest US base that houses around 10,000 troops.
Qatar said it has shut down airspace temporarily as part of measures taken amid developments in the region, a statement by the Qatari foreign ministry said on X. It said the move comes to ensure safety of residents and visitors, Reuters reported.
The British government has joined the US in advising its citizens in Qatar to shelter in place until further notice. The notice on Monday has triggered a slew of messages from various Doha-based institutions to employees and students, while Qatar maintained that the situation was stable, Reuters reported.
Diplomatic sources have confirmed that a military carrier transporting “vulnerable” British nationals and their dependants from Israel has landed in Cyprus. “The plane has arrived at Larnaca International Airport,” the Guardian was told. “If the demand is there there’ll be more [repatriation flights].”
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Iran has the full right to self-defence and called the strategic partnership between Moscow and Tehran “unbreakable”, state news agencies reported. Asked whether Iran has requested military assistance from Russia, Ryabkov told Interfax that Moscow was working with Iran across multiple areas and it would irresponsible to disclose further details on their cooperation.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday he had a good meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow and they discussed developments in the Middle East in detail, Russian state news agency RIA said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Araqchi discussed a range of issues, with a particular focus on steering the regional situation toward a peaceful resolution.
Movement of oil tankers in the strait of Hormuz remains largely unchanged despite the US attack on Iran over the weekend and the treat of closing the channel, critical to the world’s energy supplies. The Joint Maritime Information Centre which issues daily alerts to the shipping industry in the region based on naval information, said the threat level was “elevated” with “severe consequences for shipping” the the Iranian parliament’s threat to close the strait is carried out.
The Israeli military issued on Monday an evacuation warning to residents of Tehran, telling them to stay away from weapons production centres and military bases, according to a post by the Israeli military on X in Farsi and in Arabic.
A drone fell in Jordan’s Amman, causing material damage, the country’s state news agency reported on Monday, without clarifying where it came from.
Iranian authorities arrested on Monday a European national on suspicion of spying for Israel, state TV reported, as fighting raged between the foes for the 11th day. State television cited judicial authorities as saying that a spy for Israel was arrested in the western province of Hamadan, adding that the “spy is a citizen of a European country”, without elaborating.
Iran must not develop nuclear weapons, Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte said on Monday, Reuters reports. Ahead of a two-day summit of the Alliance in The Hague, he told reporters: “Allies have repeatedly urged Iran to meet its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty.”
Donald Trump thinks Iranians should overthrow their government if it refuses to negotiate on its nuclear programme, but the US president is “still interested” in diplomacy, the White House said Monday, AFP reports. “If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution, which the president is still interested and engaging in, by the way, why shouldn’t the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News.
Three empty oil and chemical tankers have diverted away from the strait of Hormuz and changed course, The Times of Israel reports. The Marie C and Red Ruby, which were sailing toward the strait, dropped anchor near Fujairah off the United Arab Emirates (UAE) coast. The Kohzan Maru was sailing in the Gulf of Oman, according to data on the Marine Traffic platform.
French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday that the Israeli strike on Tehran’s Evin prison, which put French prisoners in danger, was unacceptable. He added on X that he called for the immediate end of all strikes to enable negotiation and that he had asked for consular access to the two citizens.
Italy is against a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement over alleged human rights violations in Gaza, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday. “Our position is different from that of Spain,” Tajani said on the sidelines of a meeting with EU colleagues in Brussels, referring to Spain’s support for a suspension of the deal.
The conflict between Israel and Iran has not yet had any direct effect on the security situation in Germany, an interior ministry spokesperson said in Berlin on Monday, Reuters reports. There are also no indications of a concrete threat against US or Jewish-Israeli institutions in Germany, added the spokesperson.
US bombing probably caused “very significant” damage to the underground areas of Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment plant dug into a mountain, though no one can yet tell the extent, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday. “Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme(ly) vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” Grossi said in a statement to an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
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