Some personnel at key US base in Qatar advised to evacuate as Iran official brings up earlier attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate by Wednesday evening, according to a U.S. official and the Gulf country, as President Donald Trump has warned of possible action after a deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran.

The decision came as a senior official in Tehran brought up the country's retaliatory attack in June at Al Udeid Air Base outside Doha, Qatar.

The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, described the move at the base as precautionary and said such measures also were being taken across the region. The official, citing the need for operational security, would not go into further detail, including whether the evacuation was optional or mandatory, whether it affected troops or civilian personnel, or how many people were advised to leave.

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued a notice early Thursday saying it had “advised its personnel to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel” to Al Udeid Air Base. “We recommend U.S. citizens in Qatar do the same,” it added. In Kuwait, the U.S. embassy ordered a “temporary halt” to its personnel going to multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country amid heightened tensions. Kuwait is home to U.S. Army Central, the service’s Mideast command.

The anti-government demonstrations in nearby Iran began in late December, and Trump has said he is willing to conduct military operations against Iran if the Tehran government continues to kill and arrest protesters.

A day after Trump said that he believes the killing is “significant ” and that his administration would “act accordingly," the president told reporters that he had been told that targeting protesters and plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details.

The vague statements made it unclear as of Wednesday night what U.S. action, if any, would take place against Iran.

Qatar said the measures at Al Udeid were being “undertaken in response to the current regional tensions.”

“The State of Qatar continues to implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and residents as a top priority, including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities,” Qatar’s international media office said on the social platform X.

The base, which hosts thousands of American service members, was targeted by Iran in June in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote on X that “the #US President, who repeatedly talks about the futile aggression against #Iran’s nuclear facilities, would do well to also mention the destruction of the US base in #Al-Udeid by Iranian missiles.”

“It would certainly help create a real understanding of Iran’s will and ability to respond to any aggression,” he added.

The U.S. military maintains a variety of troops in the region, including at Al Udeid, but the Trump administration shifted some resources from the Middle East to the Caribbean Sea as part of a pressure campaign on former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was ordered in October to sail from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean along with several destroyers. The carrier USS Nimitz, which helped conduct the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, also departed the region in October.

The Navy had five small ships — two destroyers and three littoral combat ships — in the waters off Iran as of Tuesday.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had a phone call Tuesday with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister.

In a statement on X, Al Thani said he “reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s backing of all de-escalation efforts, as well as peaceful solutions to enhance security and stability in the region.”

Iran’s decision in June to retaliate against U.S. strikes by targeting the sprawling desert base created a rare tension between the two maritime neighbors, with Qatari officials saying it caught them by surprise.

No American or Qatari personnel was harmed, the U.S. military’s Central Command said at the time, noting that they worked together to defend the base. A Qatari military officer said one of 19 missiles fired by Iran was not intercepted and hit the base, but Trump said in a social media post at the time that “hardly any damage was done.”

The Gulf state has been caught in the crossfire of other regional tensions, including an Israeli strike in September on the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Doha while the group’s top figures had been gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The Pentagon declined to comment on questions about the changes at Al Udeid. The State Department had no immediate comment on the potential for any security alerts to be issued for American diplomats or other civilians in Qatar.

In June, the embassy had issued a brief shelter-in-place advisory to U.S. citizens in Doha but stopped short of evacuating diplomats or advising Americans to leave the country.

Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at the Al Udeid Air Base, May 15, 2025, in Doha, Qatar. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani aboard Air Force One at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

A woman cries as members of the Iranian community stage a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, outside the U.S. embassy in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

As American and Israeli strikes pound the Islamic Republic and Iran attacks Persian Gulf shipping and energy infrastructure with no sign of an end to the war, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a new threat to Iran's leaders on his Truth Social website.

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” Trump wrote. “What a great honor it is to do so!”

Intense strikes hit Tehran and areas surrounding Iran's capital, as Iran continued striking at neighboring Arab Gulf States, helping to drive oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

The first week of war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon. The U.N. refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced, and authorities in Lebanon say 800,000 have been forced from their homes as Israel’s military destroys buildings linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

More than 600 have been killed in Lebanon, as well as more than 1,300 in Iran and a dozen in Israel. At least seven U.S. soldiers have died during the fighting.

Here is the latest:

Israel’s military issued a warning Friday morning that Iranian missiles were inbound to the country, with air defenses actively targeting the fire.

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new threat online to Iran, writing: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”

Trump made the post Friday on his Truth Social website, saying that “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” Trump wrote. “What a great honor it is to do so!”

A missile alert sounded on mobile phones in Dubai on Friday morning as authorities said air defenses were targeting incoming Iranian fire.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said early Friday that its air defenses downed 10 more drones headed toward the kingdom’s Eastern and Central Provinces, bringing the total to nearly 50 drones entering Saudi airspace over the span of a few hours.

The barrage represents a higher-than-usual number of aerial threats for the kingdom, which has seen sites including the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, oil infrastructure, and a military base hosting U.S. troops targeted as the war involving Iran has intensified.

Thick black smoke rose over Dubai’s skyline early Friday after what authorities described as a fire in an industrial area of the city-state.

An Associated Press journalist saw the fire in Dubai’s Al Quoz neighborhood. Bystanders gathered to watch the smoke from the blaze.

Police stopped an AP journalist from going closer to the site of the blaze, which was in a cul de sac.

The Dubai Media Office, which issues statements for its government, said “debris from a successful interception caused a minor incident on the façade of a building in central Dubai.” It said there had been no injuries, though the black smoke curled over the skyline as far as the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab luxury hotel.

An Israeli strike early Friday hit a car in Jnah, a coastal neighborhood in southwestern Beirut, and killed one person, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Separately, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Nabaa neighborhood, leaving it engulfed in flames, local media reported. Nabaa, on Beirut’s northern outskirts within the densely populated Burj Hammoud district, is home to a sizable Armenian community. No casualties were immediately reported.

It was the first time such an area has been struck in this conflict or during the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Following the strikes, the Israeli army said it had targeted a Hezbollah member in Beirut. Both neighborhoods are far from the southern suburbs of Beirut, which the Israeli military has declared unsafe and issued evacuation notices for.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said some 58 people were hurt in a missile attack on Zarzir, a city around 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Jerusalem near the border with Lebanon. The service said one person was in moderate condition and 57 sustained very minor injuries from glass shards.

Footage shared by the ambulance service from the impact site showed damaged cars and scattered debris.

The Israeli military said it was operating with emergency services at the scene to clear debris.

Hezbollah said early Friday that it had fired several rocket salvos toward northern Israel and Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

The attack targeted Irbil in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday on the social platform X.

Macron identified the soldier as Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces.

“To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the nation,” Macron said. “Several of our soldiers have been wounded. France stands by their side and with their loved ones.”

France said earlier that six soldiers were hurt in a drone attack in Irbil. French troops are in Iraq as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission supporting local forces in their fight against Islamic State militants.

People inspect the site of a destroyed branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israeli authorities inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel, central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Residents watch as smoke rises from a nearby building during an Israeli strike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Relatives grieve in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, March 12, 2026, during a funeral for members of the Popular Mobilization Forces who were killed in a U.S. airstrike in Qaim. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)

A woman gathers belongings from her family's home after it was damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel, central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Workers inspect damage caused by a drone strike overnight at the Address Creek Harbour hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

A woman sits on rubble across from a residential building damaged last Sunday during the U.S.-Israeli air campaign in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)