Trump eyes on what the US does nextpublished at 19:32 British Summer Time 23 June

19:32 BST 23 June

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Donald Trump is reportedly in the Situation Room with his top security officials for an already scheduled National Security Council meeting at this hour. The White House said that from there they are closely monitoring the progress of Iran's attack on al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

The attack itself is not a complete surprise. The US has been braced for something like this happening since its attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend. All of the US forces in the Middle East have been on high alert and ready for an attack like this to come.

And of course the US won't know for some time exactly what the scale of Iran's attack has been. But once they do get that information, Trump and his leading officials will need to decide how they are going to respond.

This is now a crucial moment, when we will see whether this conflict spirals into something larger, wider and more complex than the US had wanted, or whether it can be contained.

The US had hoped that they could get in with one surgical, tactical strike against Iran's nuclear facilities and leave it at that. But an Iranian response was inevitable. We're all waiting now to see now what it will provoke.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

I've just spoken to a British citizen living in Doha with his family, who has described witnessing Qatar's air defences operating as Iran launched missiles towards a US military base. He has asked that the BBC not publish his name.

He lives about half an hour away from the US air base.

"We have been seeing and hearing explosions. I could see the defensive system being triggered and there were certain things being intercepted. You can see the collisions," he says.

“My family are a bit concerned,” he tells me. "We knew there were some risks, but we didn't expect this to happen."

He's been living in Qatar for two years for work. His family were all due to go to the UK for the summer holidays, but their travel plans are on hold now as the airport is shut.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

I'm hearing from residents of east and north-east Tehran that they've heard explosions.

Iranian outlets, such as the semi-official Mehr, have also reported that the air defence has been activated in the capital.

Chris Mason
Political editor

The UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard has told the Commons that there were explosions in Qatar at 19:35 local time (17:35 BST).

He told MPs it was a “fast changing situation” and "force protection is at its highest state" across the Middle East.

Trump will feel enormous pressure to hit backpublished at 19:05 British Summer Time 23 June

19:05 BST 23 June

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent, Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

President Trump, his secretary of defense, and the chairman of the joint chiefs were hunkered down in the Situation Room as the reports came in from Qatar.

The National Security Council has been meeting more or less daily since Israel launched its attacks on Iran 10 days ago.

The focus of concern is the Al Udeid airbase - which is both America’s biggest base in the region and the forward headquarters of Central Command, which covers the whole Middle East.

Just days ago, satellite pictures showed that dozens of aircraft had been moved off the tarmac in what was certainly a precautionary move ahead of the weekend strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

In May, Donald Trump visited the base as part of his trip to the region.

During a speech, he told service personnel: "As president, my priority is to end conflicts, not start them. But I will never hesitate to wield American power, if it’s necessary, to defend the United States of America or our partners."

After the weekend strikes, the president said any retaliation by Iran would be "met by force far greater".

Even though so far it seems that there have been no casualties, the president will feel enormous pressure to hit back - and prove that his threats are not empty.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The Pentagon has just confirmed that Al Udeid was attacked by short- and medium-range ballistic missiles launched from Iran.

A defence official noted that there are so far no reports of US casualties from the attack.

The official said that that defence officials are still monitoring the situation and "will provide more information as it becomes available."

Image source, ParliamentLive

UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard is giving a statement in the Commons about protecting UK military bases, and started speaking just minutes after the news from Qatar broke.

"This is a fast-changing situation and we are monitoring it closely," he tells MPs.

He says he can't give details at this stage - but adds "the UK government utterly condemns any escalation".

"We have put force protection measures at its highest level to safeguard our personnel in the region," he says, continuing: "We have robust measures in place to protect our armed forces personnel and their safety is our top priority."

Al Udeid, located near Qatar's capital Doha, serves as the headquarters for US Central Command’s air operations in the Middle East and hosts nearly 8,000 US troops.

British forces also rotate through the base, sometimes referred to as Abu Nakhla Airport.

The facility currently serves as the headquarters and logistics base for US operations in Iraq and also includes the longest air landing strip in the Gulf region.

Qatar gave the United States access to the Al Udeid base in 2000. After the Americans took over as base managers in 2001, Doha and Washington inked an agreement in December 2002 that officially recognised the US military’s presence at Al Udeid facility, according to London-based intelligence firm Grey Dynamics.

In 2024, CNN reported that the US reached an agreement to extend its military presence in Qatar for another 10 years.

Bahrain's Ministry of Interior says sirens have sounded and has urged residents to move to a "the nearest safe place".

In a series of posts on X, the ministry says residents should seek refuge in a building or other covered areas "until the danger has passed", without elaborating on the danger.

It calls on residents to "exercise caution" and take precautions "in the event of a loud explosion".

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Iran's Supreme National Security Council says in a statement that while Iran “shattered” the US air base in Qatar, the attack in no way “presents any danger to Qatar or its people", and adds Iran “remains committed to maintaining and continuing its warm and historic relations” with Qatar.

The statement by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, quoted by Iran's state media, says the “number of missiles used were the same number as bombs the US had used on three Iranian nuclear sites”.

Moments ago, we heard from Qatar's government, which said that its air defence systems had intercepted all of the Iranian missiles.

Lights can be seen in the sky over Qatar in these images provided by the Reuters news agency - the first since Iran's attack was reported.

Iranian state media is reporting that the military there has confirmed it fired missiles at a US air base in Qatar, while the Qatari defence ministry says its air defences successfully intercepted the attack.

It's not clear what exactly is the source of the lights in the images below, but Qatar earlier closed its air space in anticipation of an attack. Previously we showed video of air defences in operation over Qatar.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The footage below shows the skies over Qatar during the attack.

Air defences can be seen in the night sky over the Gulf state.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The White House has confirmed that Gen Dan Caine - the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are currently in the White House Situation Room.

These two men are the highest civilian and military leaders in the US defence establishment and report to President Trump as Commander-in-Chief of the military.

It is unclear whether the previously announced National Security Council meeting has begun as planned.

Things are slightly chaotic at the White House as dozens of reporter scramble to get more details on the president's movements and anything they can on the Iranian operation in the Gulf, or potential US response.

We're just hearing from Qatar's government, which has offered its "strong condemnation" of the attack on the al-Udeid Air Base.

Majed al-Ansari, official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, writes on X: "We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations charter."

He says Qatar's air defence systems "successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles" and the base had been evacuated earlier.

He adds: "All necessary steps were taken to ensure the safety of personnel at the base, including Qatari Armed Forces members, friendly forces, and others.

"We confirm that no injuries or human casualties resulted from the attack."

The spokesperson says Qatar reserves the right to respond "in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression".

More now from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's statement, as reported by state media.

It says Iran's message to the White House and its allies is "clear and explicit".

"[Iran] will not leave any attack on its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national security unanswered under any circumstances," the IRGC says in a statement.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

US President Donald Trump is now in the West Wing - as indicated by the Marine standing outside the door.

The Marine is only there when Trump is in the building.

The National Security Council meeting was scheduled to meet at this time.

We'll bring you more updates as we have them.

Iranian state media has announced Iran has begun its “mighty and victorious” response to US strikes.

The state-run Tasnim agency says that Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq. In the last few minutes, we've seen reports of explosions heard in Qatar.

We will bring you more details are they come to light. Stay with us.

A senior US official tells the BBC that the White House and the Department of Defense are aware of, and are closely monitoring, potential threats to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Their confirmation comes as we report there are "credible threats" to the US-run Coalition Air Operations Centre at that air base, located just outside Doha.

There are reports from Reuters and AFP news agencies of explosions being heard over Doha.

It follows earlier reports from US media saying that Iran was imminently preparing to fire missiles at a US base in Qatar.

The situation in Qatar is developing fast - let's summarise what we know so far:

• There is a "credible threat" to the US-run Coalition Air Operations Centre at Al Udeid in Qatar, the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner reports
• A few hours ago, the US embassy in Qatar told US citizens they should shelter in place "until further notice"
• The short statement did not go into any specific detail, but said the alert had been issued "out of an abundance of caution"
• UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy then issued the same advice to UK citizens in Qatar
• Qatar has temporarily closed its airspace, forcing planes to divert away from Doha - one of the world's busiest airports