Qatari fighter jets intercepted and destroyed two Iranian bombers that were minutes away from striking key targets, including the largest US military base in the Middle East, in what officials described as Qatar’s first air-to-air combat operation.
Sources said that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Monday deployed two Soviet-era Su-24 aircraft toward Al Udeid Air Base, home to roughly 10,000 US personnel, and Ras Laffan, a critical natural gas facility underpinning Qatar’s economy. One source said the jets were “two minutes” from impact when they were intercepted, while another confirmed the aircraft were visually identified and photographed “carrying bombs and guided munitions.”
Radio warnings from Qatari authorities reportedly went unanswered as the Iranian planes flew at about 80 feet to avoid radar detection. Citing “time constraints” and “based on the available evidence,” Qatar classified the aircraft as hostile and scrambled its warplanes. A Qatari F-15 engaged the bombers in aerial combat and shot them down. The aircraft crashed into Qatari territorial waters, and a search operation is underway for the crews, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.
The attempted strike marked the first time Iran has used manned aircraft against a neighboring country since the killing of its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. It was also the first air-to-air engagement in the history of Qatar’s air force.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, acknowledged the incident at a Pentagon briefing, stating: “Qatari fighters for the first time have shot down two Iranian bombers on route to their location,” without detailing the intended targets.
In a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani described the incident as “escalatory,” saying it demonstrated “no genuine desire” by Iran to ease tensions. “Rather, it seeks to inflict harm on its neighbors and drag them into a war that is not theirs,” he said, according to an official readout.
The clash comes amid mounting regional tensions. Since the initial US-Israeli offensive, Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles and over 1,000 drones at Gulf Arab states, regional governments say. While most have been intercepted, six US service members were killed after an Iranian projectile breached air defenses and struck a temporary operations center at Kuwait’s Shuaiba port.
