US opens new air defense operations cell at Qatar base that Iran targeted in retaliatory attack

The U.S. military and its regional partners opened a new air defense operations cell in Qatar to “enhance integrated air and missile defense,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Tuesday, as tensions are escalating in Iran. 

The cell was opened at Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha – the same base that Iran targeted in a retaliatory attack last June following U.S. strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.  

The base is home to 10,000 American forces and is the U.S.’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, it serves as a hub for logistical operations for the U.S. mission to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. 

“This is a significant step forward in strengthening regional defense cooperation,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement on Tuesday. “This cell will improve how regional forces coordinate and share air and missile defense responsibilities across the Middle East.”

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CENTCOM said the new Middle Eastern Air Defense – Combined Defense Operations Cell is located in the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) and is made up of personnel from the U.S. and its regional partners. 

“The Qatar-based CAOC, established more than 20 years ago, currently includes representatives from 17 nations who coordinate the employment of military air assets across the Middle East region,” CENTCOM said. 

“U.S. Air Force Central service members will work alongside regional counterparts… in planning multinational exercises, conducting drills, and responding to contingencies,” CENTCOM added. “The cell will also be responsible for sharing information and threat warnings.”

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A U.S. defense official told Fox News Digital last year that Iran had used short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles to attack Al Udeid, but no casualties had been reported.   

“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.

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More than 2,000 people have been killed in the ongoing anti-government demonstrations in Iran, according to an activist group. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Tuesday that 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were members of Iran’s security forces, The Associated Press reported. Other reports have the death toll higher. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Jennifer Griffin and Liz Friden contributed to this report.