New satellite images indicate that an Iranian missile attack on June 23 struck a dome at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and probably destroyed US military communications equipment. The geodesic dome housing a satellite terminal essential to secure American military communications was probably destroyed.
Al Udeid, located just outside of Doha, serves as the main operations base of the US military in the Middle East and houses the forward headquarters of US Central Command.
The dome officially referred to as a radome, was placed by the US Air Force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing in 2016 as part of a $15 million expansion to accommodate a modernised enterprise satellite terminal.
Images Reveal Dome Disappeared After Strike
The Associated Press reports that satellite photo analysis shows the radome in place on the morning of the attack. Subsequent images, taken two days later and on following days, however, reveal it gone, as well as some apparent damage to a nearby building. The wider base facilities appear intact.
While the exact reason for the destruction of the dome remains unverified, the fact that the damage is localized suggests a precision attack, which could have been from an Iranian drone or missile.
Iranian Officials Celebrate Attack
The Al Udeid strike was in response to previous US attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities in Tehran as part of a 12-day escalation between Israel and Iran. The conflict eased shortly afterward with a ceasefire mediated by then-US President Donald Trump.
Iranian officials praised the attack. Ahmad Alamolhoda, a senior ayatollah and adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asserted that it had ‘totally destroyed’ the base’s communications and disrupted American command activity. Iranian sources also boasted that the base was ‘destroyed’ and its communication links severed.
At the same time, Trump de-emphasized the attack, calling it ‘a very weak response’. He indicated that Iran had given advance warning of the attack, allowing US and Qatari troops to prepare and to sidestep casualties.
No Official Statements, Initially Reported by Iran International
Neither Qatari nor US military officials have publicly commented on the level of damage. Iran International, a London-based publication, was the first to report the seeming destruction, relying on commercial satellite imagery to support the reports.
