The US Embassy in Qatar issued an emergency “shelter in place” Monday for all Americans living there, soon before Iran attacked American military bases there.
The embassy said it was issuing the alert “out of an abundance of caution,” without detailing specific threats.
Hours later, Iran announced that it had fired a “devastating and powerful missile” at Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, the largest American base in the Middle East with about 10,000 US soldiers stationed there.
The United Kingdom’s Qatar embassy issued a similar warning for its citizens.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry initially said the advisories “do not reflect the existence of specific threats,” claiming before the missiles strike that “the security situation in the country is stable.”
However, Qatar later on Monday temporarily shut down its airspace as explosions were reported over the capital city of Doha.
US drops $500M bombs on Iran
The notice from the US Embassy comes after the State Department issued a warning Sunday to American citizens around the world following the US’ unprecedented attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Stay up to date on the latest developments in the US airstrike on Iran
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,” the State Department said.
“There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.”
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Americans in the Middle East have been on alert following the US’ historic attack on three of Iran’s key nuclear facilities Sunday morning.
In an address to the country from the White House, President Trump touted the strikes as “a spectacular military success” and claimed that the facilities have been “completely and totally obliterated.”
The attacks were ordered by Trump as he pushes for an end to the Israel-Iran conflict, which Israel started over concerns that Iran was fast-tracking the production of nuclear weapons.
In response to the US strike, Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has since gone into hiding amid fears of an assassination attempt by the Jewish state, three US officials told Axios.
Tehran has repeatedly denied its nuclear program is for anything other than peaceful purposes.
