Khaberni - Officials from the US Department of War announced on Friday the evacuation of hundreds of soldiers from the "Al Udeid" Air Base in Qatar, as part of a series of precautionary measures taken by Washington to anticipate a possible Iranian retaliation for its strike.
Officials reported that the evacuation operations also included the US bases complex in Bahrain, which houses the Fifth Fleet, aimed at reducing the possible human losses in case Iran launches a drone missile attack on these facilities.
This move comes after an Iranian message to the United Nations on Thursday, warning that any attack on Tehran would make "all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile forces in the region legitimate targets," holding the United States "fully and directly responsible for any unintended and uncontrollable consequences".
Currently, there are about 30,000 to 40,000 American soldiers spread across 13 military bases in the Middle East, including the "Al Udeid" base which is the largest American air base in the region, accommodating thousands of soldiers and advanced stealth fighters.
A senior official in the Pentagon warned this week that US forces might face greater risks if the United States, and not Israel, initiates this round of strikes.
Concurrently with the evacuation operations, the Pentagon is deploying more air defense batteries in the region to protect the American bases, in anticipation of a conflict with Iran that might last longer than the limited confrontation that lasted 12 days last June.
Catherine Thompson from the Cato Institute, a former policy official at the Pentagon, said: "This seems to be positioning for a much longer conflict," noting that the Pentagon expects "a Iranian response that could pose a significant risk to American bases in the region".
