The region was garbled for escalation when President Donald Trump entered the war between Israel and Iran late Saturday night.
The US has dropped 17 giant weapon invasion bombs and two dozen cruise missiles at Iranian nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordau and Esfahan, which support Israel, which had already traded missile fires for Tehran since July 13th.
Iran’s response came quickly. On Monday evening, it launched 14 missiles intended for the central headquarters of the US Air Force in the Middle East in Al Udeid, Qatar, China. These missiles flew around the capital Doha and spread alarms.
But instead of leading to the “Rator of Retaliation” that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, the attack predicted a ceasefire that Trump announced hours later, driven by sophisticated diplomacy, including Qatar, the US and Iran.
So how did the ceasefire emerge from the smoke of the attack?
What options did Iran have?
With the US exposing in its Iranian neighborhood, military response to US bases was an obvious choice.
Apart from Al Udeid Air Force Base, its fifth fleet is headquartered in Bahrain. Both are over 200 km (125 miles) from Iran across the Persian Gulf. There are air force bases in Kuwait and four logistics bases in Oman. Even further away, the US has three air force bases in Saudi Arabia, three air force bases in Iraq and an air force base in Jordan.
“The US has 40,000 troops in this area [on] “Dorsa Jabbari of Al Jazeera said it is 19 US bases, eight of which are permanent and Iran will become a legal target previously.”
In the past, Iranian agents in the region wrote The Institute for the Institute for the Institute on Friday, a Washington-based think tank.
Houthi Militias could resume attacks on transport in the Red Sea, allowing Iran itself to attack transport in the Hormuz Strait. Therefore, it could simultaneously threaten two of the world’s most economically important transport choke points.
However, the proxy attack never came, showing the limits of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance,” and “how tired it is after a few months of the fight with the US and Israel,” ISW said in a comment on its website.
Still, even if the world was ready to respond to the US attack, an Iranian historian at St Andrews University in Britain told Al Jazeera on Monday that he thought a “off-ramp with the US” could be.
“There are a lot of public raucous things, but personally, he said, before the Iranian strike late that night.
How did the strike unfold?
Local time on Monday (16:00 GMT) around 7pm, Iran attacked Qatar.
Qatar denounced the attack as “a very dangerous escalation representing a serious violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” We have issued a demarche to the Iranian ambassador in Doha.
However, the “feeler” that Ansari was talking about appears to have been released in advance.
“I want to thank Iran for notifying me early,” Trump wrote on social media.
The warning also allowed Qatar to prepare for air defense, fire 13 missiles, allowing them to fly “in a threatless direction.”
Satellite images suggest that even before the US hit Iran, they evacuated staff and aircraft from Al Udeid, so targeting it represents a low risk for victims. Neither Al Udeid’s US base nor the Qatar Air Force suffered little material loss.
“I’m glad to report that the Americans weren’t harmed, and there was little damage. Most importantly, they got it all from the ‘system’,” Trump wrote three hours after the attack.
Just two hours later, he announced a ceasefire.
“Congratulations to everyone! There is a complete agreement between Israel and Iran, and there is a complete and complete ceasefire (approximately six hours after Israel and Iran went on in progress and completed their final mission!)
Trump later revealed, “Israel and Iran came to me almost at the same time and said, ‘Peace!”
Iran’s government issued a statement early on Tuesday that it “produced a humiliating and exemplary response to enemy atrocities,” and that it had framing the ceasefire as “a national decision to impose a halt of war on the Zionist enemy and its sleazy supporters.”
What about Qatar’s relationship with the US and Iran?
Qatar hosts the largest US Air Force base in the Middle East and has worked closely with Washington in a series of tricky diplomatic negotiations, including the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hamas in Gaza.
At the same time, it enjoys warm diplomatic and economic ties with Iran. “Southpur, Northpur and Northfield were joints. [venture] Doha-based energy expert Roudi Baroudi spoke to Al Jazeera, referring to the gas fields shared by Qatar and Iran.
The Southpurs gas field alone holds about the same amount of gas as all other known gas fields on Earth, Bowdy said.
Shortly after he announced the ceasefire, Trump thanked the Qatar chief.
“I would like to thank the highly respected Chief of Qatar for everything he has done in search of peace in the region,” he wrote about the true society. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian called Qatar Emir on Tuesday, expressing his “remorse” over the attack the previous day.
Pezekian has made it clear that Qatar and its people are not targets of Iran’s strike. “[Pezeshkian] He emphasized that Qatar will remain a neighboring Muslim and sister state, expressing his hope that relations between the two countries will always be based on the principle of respecting the state and good neighbors,” the Chief’s office said in a statement.
Qatar Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jasim al Thani said on Wednesday that “Qatar has made important diplomatic efforts with regional and international partners to ease tensions.”
And Bardi suggested that the effects of these efforts could be felt beyond Israel and Iran alone.
“Washington and Doha have eliminated invisible economic and ecological bombs,” he said. Because the Gulf Coast is a highly burnable oil and gas wellhead powder barrel for terminals and tanker off-roading.
“All the region is home to over 34 refineries along the coast. There are over 105 power plants and desalinated plants. So a ceasefire takes risks to water and electricity. [supply] He said he suggests that Qatar will be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
