Saudi Arabia condemns 'unjustifiable' Iran 'aggression' on Qatar

Saudi Arabia lambasted Iran for its “unjustifiable” attack on a US base in Qatar on Monday, offering to deploy “all its capabilities” to support Doha, with whom it has had fraught relations in the past.

Riyadh said it “condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the aggression launched by Iran against the sisterly State of Qatar… This is unacceptable and unjustifiable under any circumstances. The Kingdom affirms its solidarity and full support for… Qatar and offers all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in any measures it takes,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Iran launched missiles at US military bases in Qatar and Iraq on Monday evening, official media reported, in what state TV called a “powerful” response to recent American strikes on key nuclear sites.

“The operation of Iranian missiles against American bases located in Qatar and in Iraq has begun, and is called ‘Blessing of Victory’,” the official press agency IRNA said. AFP journalists reported hearing explosions in Doha, the capital of Qatar, home to the largest US base in the region.

Explosions could be heard across Doha on Monday evening, according to AFP journalists, shortly after Qatar closed its airspace, citing regional developments following US strikes on Iran.

The blasts could be heard in central Doha and in Lusail north of the Qatari capital, and projectiles could be seen moving across the night sky. Iran said attack on US base does not ‘pose any threat’ to Qatar.

Qatar said it had successfully intercepted an Iranian missile attack Monday on the United States’ Al Udeid base, the largest US military facility in the Middle East.

Qatar condemned the attack and called it a  “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

“The Ministry of Defense announced that Qatari air defenses successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base,” it said in a statement, adding that “the incident did not result in any deaths or injuries”.

“We express the State of Qatar’s strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.