President Donald Trump, in a social media post on June 23, indicated Iran gave advanced warning of its missile barrage targeting the U.S. military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday afternoon.
The president said the Iranian missile barrage consisted of 14 missiles, of which Trump said 13 were shot down and one was allowed to continue in a “nonthreatening direction.”
This missile barrage marked Iran’s response to the strike Trump ordered over the weekend that targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities.
“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ’system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” Trump’s social media post continued.
“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost and nobody to be injured,” he added.
In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump said that no Qataris were harmed in the Iranian missile attack.
“Regarding the attack today at the American Base in Qatar, I am pleased to report that, in addition to no Americans being killed or wounded, very importantly, there have also been no Qataris killed or wounded,” he wrote.
While Trump said the Iranian missile attack was ineffective and largely choreographed, Iranian state media said the barrage was a decisive response to the U.S. strike over the weekend.
“The message of this decisive action by the sons of the nation in the armed forces to the White House and its allies is clear and direct,” the Iranian armed forces said in a statement shared with Iran’s PressTV.
The Iranian military added that Iran would “never leave any violation of its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered.”
On Jan. 8, 2020, Iranian forces launched around a dozen missiles at two bases in Iraq hosting U.S. troops, five days after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
In a set of televised remarks immediately following the January 2020 Iranian missile attack, Trump said Iran appeared to be standing down.
Trump did not launch any military response to the Jan. 8, 2020, Iranian missile barrage, and tensions subsided.
Although there were no initial reports of injuries among American service members due to the strikes, dozens of U.S. troops sustained traumatic brain injuries as the Iranian missiles impacted. No troops died as a direct result of the barrage.