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U.S. Issues Security Alert as Qatar Air Base Empties Under Iran Threat

Satellite imagery showing an empty base prompted a security warning with restricted access, reflecting U.S. efforts to shield personnel from possible Iranian retaliation.

Satellite imagery captured by Airbus on February 23, 2025, and provided by Google Earth shows the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East.
In this handout photo from the U.S. Air Force, an airman guides an F-16 Fighting Falcon during training at Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Jan. 24, 2022.
Image
Satellite images of the Al Udeid US military base in Qatar on June 5 (L) and June 19 (R), 2025

Overview

  • The U.S. Embassy in Qatar has advised nonessential staff to avoid Al-Udeid Air Base and imposed temporary access restrictions citing regional hostilities.
  • Open-source satellite images reveal that aerial tankers, surveillance planes and transport aircraft have vacated the base, suggesting preparations for potential conflict with Iran.
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee that U.S. forces stand ready to carry out any orders from President Donald Trump regarding Iran.
  • The State Department has evacuated nonessential diplomats and their families from the American embassy in Israel in response to elevated threats against U.S. targets.
  • The heightened U.S. posture follows Israeli Defense Forces strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, which have drawn warnings of retaliatory attacks by Tehran.