US forces in Qatar eye evacuating some personnel amid Iran tension

Some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate by Wednesday evening, according to a U.S. official and the Gulf country, as President Donald Trump has warned of possible action after a deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran.

The decision came as a senior official in Tehran brought up the country’s retaliatory attack in June at Al Udeid Air Base outside Doha, Qatar.

The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, described the move at the base as precautionary and said such measures also were being taken across the region. The official, citing the need for operational security, would not go into further detail, including whether the evacuation was optional or mandatory, whether it affected troops or civilian personnel, or how many people were advised to leave.

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued a notice early Thursday saying it had “advised its personnel to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel” to Al Udeid Air Base. “We recommend U.S. citizens in Qatar do the same,” it added. In Kuwait, the U.S. embassy ordered a “temporary halt” to its personnel going to multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country amid heightened tensions. Kuwait is home to U.S. Army Central, the service’s Mideast command.

The anti-government demonstrations in nearby Iran began in late December, and Trump has said he is willing to conduct military operations against Iran if the Tehran government continues to kill and arrest protesters.

A day after Trump said that he believes the killing is “significant ” and that his administration would “act accordingly,” the president told reporters that he had been told that targeting protesters and plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details.

The vague statements made it unclear as of Wednesday night what U.S. action, if any, would take place against Iran.

Qatar notes ‘regional tensions’

Qatar said the measures at Al Udeid were being “undertaken in response to the current regional tensions.”

“The State of Qatar continues 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,” Qatar’s international media office said on the social platform X.

The base, which hosts thousands of American service members, was targeted by Iran in June in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote on X that “the #US President, who repeatedly talks about the futile aggression against #Iran’s nuclear facilities, would do well to also mention the destruction of the US base in #Al-Udeid by Iranian missiles.”

“It would certainly help create a real understanding of Iran’s will and ability to respond to any aggression,” he added.

The U.S. military maintains a variety of troops in the region, including at Al Udeid, but the Trump administration shifted some resources from the Middle East to the Caribbean Sea as part of a pressure campaign on former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was ordered in October to sail from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean along with several destroyers. The carrier USS Nimitz, which helped conduct the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, also departed the region in October.

The Navy had five small ships — two destroyers and three littoral combat ships — in the waters off Iran as of Tuesday.

Iranian and Qatari officials stay in touch

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had a phone call Tuesday with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister.

In a statement on X, Al Thani said he “reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s backing of all de-escalation efforts, as well as peaceful solutions to enhance security and stability in the region.”

Iran’s decision in June to retaliate against U.S. strikes by targeting the sprawling desert base created a rare tension between the two maritime neighbors, with Qatari officials saying it caught them by surprise.

No American or Qatari personnel was harmed, the U.S. military’s Central Command said at the time, noting that they worked together to defend the base. A Qatari military officer said one of 19 missiles fired by Iran was not intercepted and hit the base, but Trump said in a social media post at the time that “hardly any damage was done.”

The Gulf state has been caught in the crossfire of other regional tensions, including an Israeli strike in September on the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Doha while the group’s top figures had been gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The Pentagon declined to comment on questions about the changes at Al Udeid. The State Department had no immediate comment on the potential for any security alerts to be issued for American diplomats or other civilians in Qatar.

In June, the embassy had issued a brief shelter-in-place advisory to U.S. citizens in Doha but stopped short of evacuating diplomats or advising Americans to leave the country.

Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This report has been updated.

据一位美国官员和卡塔尔方面透露，由于美国总统唐纳德·特朗普警告称，在伊朗发生致命镇压抗议者事件后，可能会采取行动，因此，驻卡塔尔一处重要美军基地的部分人员已被告知在周三晚间之前撤离。

此前，德黑兰一位高级官员提到了伊朗6月份在卡塔尔多哈郊外的乌代德空军基地发动的报复性袭击。

一位不愿透露姓名的美国官员表示，由于涉及敏感计划，他称该基地的行动是预防性的，并表示该地区其他地区也在采取类似措施。这位官员以行动安全为由，拒绝透露更多细节，包括撤离是自愿的还是强制性的，涉及的是部队人员还是文职人员，以及有多少人被建议撤离。

美国驻卡塔尔大使馆周四早些时候发布通知称，已“建议其人员提高警惕，减少前往乌代德空军基地的非必要出行”。通知还补充道：“我们建议在卡塔尔的美国公民也这样做。”在科威特，由于局势紧张升级，美国大使馆已下令其人员“暂时停止”前往这个海湾阿拉伯小国的多个军事基地。科威特是美国陆军中央司令部（美国陆军中东司令部）的所在地。

邻国伊朗的反政府示威活动始于 12 月下旬，特朗普曾表示，如果德黑兰政府继续杀害和逮捕抗议者，他愿意对伊朗采取军事行动。

在特朗普表示他认为这起杀戮事件“意义重大”，并且他的政府将“采取相应行动”的第二天，这位总统告诉记者，他已被告知针对抗议者的袭击和在伊朗的处决计划已经停止，但没有提供太多细节。

截至周三晚间，这些含糊不清的声明使得人们不清楚美国是否会对伊朗采取任何行动，以及采取何种行动。

卡塔尔注意到“地区紧张局势”

卡塔尔方面表示，在乌代德采取的措施是“为了应对当前地区紧张局势”。

卡塔尔国际媒体办公室在社交平台X上表示：“卡塔尔国将继续采取一切必要措施，将保障公民和居民的安全作为首要任务，包括保护关键基础设施和军事设施的相关行动。”

该基地驻扎着数千名美国军人，伊朗于6月将其作为袭击目标，以报复美国对其核设施的袭击。

伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊的顾问阿里·沙姆哈尼在X上写道：“美国总统一再谈论对伊朗核设施的徒劳侵略，他最好也提一下伊朗导弹摧毁了位于乌代德的美国基地。”

“这肯定有助于真正了解伊朗应对任何侵略的意愿和能力，”他补充道。

美国军方在该地区驻扎着各种部队，包括驻扎在乌代德的部队，但特朗普政府将一些资源从中东转移到加勒比海，以此作为对委内瑞拉前总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗施压行动的一部分。

世界最大的航空母舰“杰拉尔德·R·福特”号于10月奉命与数艘驱逐舰一同从地中海驶往加勒比海。参与6月对伊朗核计划进行打击行动的“尼米兹”号航空母舰也于10月离开该地区。

截至周二，美国海军在伊朗附近海域部署了五艘小型舰艇——两艘驱逐舰和三艘濒海战斗舰。

伊朗和卡塔尔官员保持联系

伊朗最高国家安全委员会秘书阿里·拉里贾尼周二与卡塔尔首相谢赫·穆罕默德·本·阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·阿勒萨尼通了电话。

阿勒萨尼在一份关于X的声明中表示，他“重申卡塔尔国支持所有缓和局势的努力，以及旨在加强该地区安全与稳定的和平解决方案”。

伊朗在 6 月份决定对美国的袭击进行报复，以打击这个庞大的沙漠基地，这在两个海上邻国之间造成了罕见的紧张局势，卡塔尔官员表示，这让他们感到意外。

美国中央司令部当时表示，没有美国或卡塔尔人员伤亡，并指出双方共同努力保卫了基地。一名卡塔尔军官称，伊朗发射的19枚导弹中有一枚未被拦截并击中了基地，但特朗普当时在社交媒体上发帖称“几乎没有造成任何损失”。

这个海湾国家一直处于其他地区紧张局势的交火之中，其中包括以色列在9月份袭击了哈马斯位于多哈的政治领导总部，当时该组织的高层领导人正在集会考虑美国提出的加沙地带停火方案。

五角大楼拒绝就乌代德空军基地的变动发表评论。国务院也未立即就可能对驻卡塔尔的美国外交官或其他平民发布任何安全警报发表评论。

今年6月，美国大使馆曾向在多哈的美国公民发布了短暂的就地避难建议，但并未撤离外交官或建议美国公民离开该国。

阿米里从纽约报道。美联社记者马修·李（华盛顿）和乔恩·甘布雷尔（阿联酋迪拜）对本报道亦有贡献。

编者按：本报告已更新。