Pentagon admitted on Friday that the Iranian ballistic shot hit the US Air Air Base in Katar during the June attack, despite the fact that US President Donald Trump initially made the attack easier. This was reported by AP, from which the report was taken over by TASR.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack “caused minimal damage to the equipment and infrastructure of the base”. He added that the Al-UDAJD base “remains fully functional and able to fulfill its mission to ensure safety and stability in the region, in cooperation with Qatar partners”.
The confession came only after the photographs were published
The statement followed after AP published satellite images capturing damage after the attack on Friday. Photos from Planet Labs PBC show that the geodetic dome in which the American communication facility was found was visible in the morning of June 23. Pictures from 25 June and the next days are missing the dome and signs of damage are visible in the nearby building. According to the shots, the rest of the base seems undamaged.
The US Army and Qatar did not initially comment on the scope of damage that has not yet been publicly awarded.
The Iranian attack on the Al-Udajd base near the Qatar Metropolis Dauh followed the US 21 June bombed three nuclear devices in Iran. It was a part of retaliation that resulted in a ceasefire mediated by Donald Trump and ended the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.
According to available information, the US military managed to evacuate aircraft from the base before the attack. Trump said Iran had signaled the time and method of attack in advance, allowing the American and Qatar air defense.
Trump described the attack as a “very weak reaction” and said that of the 14 Iranian shots, 13 were captured and one flew towards the threat. “I want to thank Iran for a timely warning that made no one killed or wounded,” Truth Social wrote on his platform.
The attack focused on the dome
However, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed that the base was the aim of the “destructive and strong missile attack”. The Supreme Security Council of Iran declared that the base was “leveled with the earth” without giving specific damage.
A harder statement was also provided by the advisor of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said that “all the base of the base was completely destroyed and the US command and the connection from the Al-UDAJD base with other military facilities was completely interrupted”.
However, satellite images suggest that the damage was mainly focused on one dome containing a satellite antenna. This object, known as the modernized communication terminal, was installed on the base in 2016 and its value was $ 15 million. It is not excluded that the dome has been hit by a part of the rocket or a bomb carried by a drone, as the damage to the surrounding buildings is minimal.
