Tinshui Yeung
TSGT Scott Reed, USAFThe US and UK are reducing the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to take action against Iran over its crackdown on anti-government protests.
Officials have told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the partial American withdrawal was a “precautionary measure”. The BBC understands some UK military personnel are also being removed.
A Qatari government statement said the measures reportedly being taken by the US were “in response to the current regional tensions”.
Trump earlier said the US would take “very strong action” against Iran if the authorities execute protesters. Iran has said it will retaliate if attacked by the US.
According to rights groups, more than 2,400 anti-government demonstrators have been killed in the recent violent crackdown by the Iranian authorities.
Regarding the removal of military personnel, the Qatari government said it would continue 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”.
Al-Udeid is the largest US military base in the Middle East and about 10,000 personnel are based there, as well as about 100 UK staff. It is not clear how many will be leaving.
A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson declined to comment on reports that UK personnel were being withdrawn “due to operational security”.
Citing diplomats, the Reuters news agency reported that while some personnel had been told to leave the base, there was no immediate sign of large numbers of troops being bussed out like in the hours before an Iranian strike last year.
A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Donald Trump on Wednesday that the June attack had demonstrated Iran’s ability to respond to any attack.
“It would certainly help create a real understanding of Iran’s will and capability to respond to any attack,” Ali Shamkhani wrote in a post on X.
The US Mission to Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has advised its personnel and citizens to “exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations in the region”.
The US has been threatening to intervene in Iran over the killing of protesters. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iranian authorities would “pay a big price” for the killings, and urged people to “keep protesting”.
He has also said that Iranian leaders had called him and that “they want to negotiate” but that the US “may have to act before a meeting”.
Iran’s government has accused the US of seeking to “manufacture a pretext for military intervention”, with the parliament speaker warning that if the US attacked, both Israeli and US military and shipping centres in the region would become legitimate targets.
The latest protests in Iran began at the end of December following the collapse of the currency and as the country deals with soaring living costs.
They quickly widened into demands for political change and became one of the most serious challenges to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had so far confirmed the killing of 2,403 protesters, as well as 12 children, despite an internet blackout. More than 18,434 protesters have been arrested during the unrest, the group also reported.
