Iran notified the U.S. and Qatari governments in advance about its attack on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on the 23rd (local time), according to major foreign news outlets.
The New York Times (NYT) reported that an Iranian official said, "A message was sent to the U.S. military in Qatar that 'missiles will be flying soon.'" The official noted, "Symbolic retaliation was inevitable," but added that "a response with an exit strategy, meaning limited retaliation rather than war, was necessary."
This is assessed as a similar strategy to when Iran informed the Iraqi government in advance about its attack plans against U.S. military bases stationed in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated through his social media platform, Truth Social, that "Iran responded very weakly, as we expected," and claimed that 13 out of the 14 missiles fired at the Al Udeid Air Base were intercepted.
He continued, "The remaining missile was not a threat, so we left it alone," adding, "Thanks to Iran notifying us early (about the missile launch), there were no casualties."
Qatar, which received advance information from Iran, activated its air defense system near the U.S. military base just before the attack. Qatari military authorities announced that they succeeded in intercepting missiles aimed at the military base and stated, "There are no major damages, including casualties."