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Qatar's armed forces deployed 300 soldiers and activated several Qatari Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries in two locations to counter 19 Iranian missiles flying towards the country.
Senior Qatari officials were meeting with the country's prime minister on Monday afternoon to find ways to ease tensions in the conflict between Iran and Israel, when defense ministry personnel called to warn of incoming Iranian missiles.
The attack, the first in the Persian Gulf, caught them by surprise, according to Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari, who recalled feeling the prime minister's residence shake from the blasts that quickly followed overhead.
That morning, the Gulf Arab states were gripped by anxiety. The oil-rich, glitzy capitals feared the worst-case scenario: an Iranian missile attack that would shatter their image of stability after 12 days of war between Israel and Iran, which had culminated in a series of American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Bahrain, home to the US Naval Command, told residents to avoid major roads, and Kuwait, which hosts several US military bases, activated shelters in ministerial compounds. In nearby Dubai and Abu Dhabi, some residents were booking early flights and others were stockpiling supplies.
In Doha, anxious residents were on high alert. American and British citizens in the country were told to seek shelter and American military personnel were evacuated from the US-run Al Udeid base.
Qatar's military early warning radar system, one of the most advanced in the region, and intelligence gathered indicated that Iranian missile batteries had moved toward Qatar earlier that day, the spokesman said, but nothing was certain until shortly before the attacks.
"It could have been misdirected to distract us from the actual target. There were still many targets in the region... but towards the end it was very clear, their missile systems were hot and we had a very clear idea an hour before the attack, Al Udeid base would be targeted," said a Qatari official with knowledge of defense operations.
Responding to the attack
At around 7pm local time, Qatari officials were informed by their military that Iranian missiles were in the air and heading towards the Al Udeid base.
Qatar's armed forces deployed 300 soldiers and activated several Qatari Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries in two locations to counter 19 Iranian missiles flying towards the country, according to Al-Ansari. US President Donald Trump has said 14 missiles were fired from Iran.
Qatari forces coordinated closely with the US, but the operation "was led by Qatar," Al-Ansari told CNN.
"Seven missiles were intercepted over the Persian Gulf before reaching Qatari soil. Another 11 were intercepted over Doha without causing damage and one fell in an uninhabited area of the base causing minimal damage," he said.
According to Trump, Iran had given the US advance notice before the attack. While Doha received information from Washington, it did not receive any direct warning from the Iranians, according to Al-Ansari, although officials were aware that US bases in the region could be targeted.
"The Iranians told us months ago... if there was a US attack on Iranian soil, that would make bases housing US forces in the region legitimate targets ," Al-Ansari said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said this warning was reiterated to his Gulf counterparts at a meeting in Istanbul, the day before the Iranian attacks on Qatar.
Iran's National Security Council said after the aborted attack that its attacks had not presented "any dangerous aspect to our friendly and brotherly country of Qatar and its noble people."
However, Al-Ansari dismisses speculation that Qatar, given its working relationship with Tehran, may have given the green light to the attacks in order to create a deterrent to regional escalation.
"We do not take lightly that our country is attacked with missiles by any party and we would never do this as part of a political maneuver or a game in the region . We would not put our people in danger. I would not put my daughter under missiles coming from the sky just to achieve a political result. This was a complete surprise to us," Ansari said.
According to Al-Ansari, in the moments after the attack, Trump called the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, telling him that the Israelis were willing to agree to a ceasefire and asked him to do the same for the Iranians.
"While we were discussing how to retaliate against this attack... that's when we get a call from the United States that a possible ceasefire had been opened, a possible path to regional security," Ansari said.
Doha's role as a mediator quickly became key after the attacks. Qatar's chief negotiator, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, spoke with the Iranians, while Qatar's prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was speaking with US Vice President JD Vance. Soon, "we were able to secure a deal," Al-Ansaris said - and at the right time.
"All options were on the table that night... we could have retaliated immediately or backed down and said we're not talking to a country that sent 19 missiles at us. But we also understood that it was a moment that could create momentum for peace in a region that hasn't been there for two years now," Ansari stressed.
Shortly after, Trump declared on social media that a ceasefire had been reached between Iran and Israel./ Adapted from "Pamphlet", from "CNN"
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