Iran has launched missiles at U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Stocks are rising

Iran has launched missiles towards US military bases in the Middle East: at least Qatar and Iraq have been hit. Tehran claims to have engaged as many missiles as the US did in its attack on Iran on Sunday. Qatar says the US base was evacuated before the attack and there were no deaths or injuries. U.S. stocks resumed growth, the cost of Brent crude oil collapsed by 5%: the market took it as a coordinated move that will not lead to a serious escalation of tensions in the Middle East, commented Bloomberg.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed the attack and said the number of missiles fired was the same as the number of bombs the U.S. used in its weekend strike, reports Reuters. Tehran also noted that US military bases are located far away from urban spaces and residential areas in Qatar, and therefore the strike did not pose a threat to «friendly and brotherly» Qatar.

Qatar has condemned the Iranian attack and said it reserves the right to respond directly and in accordance with international law: this follows a statement by an adviser to the prime minister and the country's foreign ministry spokesman published in X. Qatar's air force successfully repelled the attack and intercepted Iranian missiles, Doha claimed. It called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities and a return to negotiations. Qatari officials said a U.S. military base had been evacuated earlier and no one was killed or injured in the Iranian attack.

Iran gave Qatar advance warning of an attack on a U.S. military base to minimize casualties, wrote The New York Times. Qatar closed its airspace shortly before reports of Iranian missiles surfaced.

At least ten missiles were launched toward Qatar and at least one toward Iraq, confirmed an Israeli interlocutor for Axios, whose name the publication did not disclose. Several explosions were heard in the Qatari capital Doha, confirms Reuters, citing an eyewitness. The eyewitness in Doha, whom wrote Bloomberg, heard eight separate explosions, but it was unclear whether the missiles exploded in the air, after hitting the ground or as a result of air defenses, the agency noted. 

An air defense system has been activated at a U.S. base in Iraq over fears of an air attack, reported Reuters, citing military sources. Bahrain's interior ministry announced the air alert and urged citizens to head to the nearest safe place. The country closed its airspace, wrote Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff John Kaine are monitoring the situation in Qatar, reports Reuters quoted a White House official as saying. Axios' source said the White House and Pentagon are «aware of and closely monitoring potential threats» to the U.S. military base in Iraq.

«I think it's all well staged: Iran strikes an empty U.S. base, enough warning is given in advance - closing airspace and telling them to withdraw to shelters. Iran gets a chance to save face and does not approach the Strait of Hormuz,» said Harry Chilingirian, head of Onyx Capital's analytical division, as quoted by Bloomberg. The U.S. and its allies received a signal about the strike on Qatar in advance and expected it, the agency's source familiar with Western intelligence assessments said.

- The main U.S. indices at the trades on June 23 are characterized by volatility: after the beginning of the trades they were mainly growing, then began to decline after the news about the closure of airspace by Qatar. But after the news about the Iranian strike the indices partially recovered all the losses. The S&P 500 index even went into the plus side, then pulled back into negative territory again before starting to climb as much. The Nasdaq Composite index was adding about 0.2%.

- The price of Brent crude oil fell sharply down after reports of the Iran strikes, with the price falling about 5% at one point, dropping to around $73 a barrel.

- The VIX market volatility index, also called the «Wall Street fear index,» has temporarily jumped 8.5%. It has remained above the 20-point mark since Israel's operation against Iran began - typically indicative of a period of heightened uncertainty.

Iran threatened to respond to the U.S. attack on three of its nuclear facilities that took place on the night of Sunday, June 22. Iranian authorities have tried to minimize the damage in their public statements, wrote The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper speculated that a strike on U.S. military bases or embassies in the region could be one of Tehran's likely retaliatory moves.

US President Donald Trump has warned that any Iranian response would provoke further US action.

«Any Iranian response against the U.S. will be met with a force far more powerful than what has been seen today,» Trump wrote on June 22 in a Truth Social

Bloomberg Economics on Sunday called the most likely limited response from Tehran. «Iran could carefully plan a response, as it did in 2020 after U.S. strikes killed senior Iranian general Qassem Suleimani. Such a response could include warning the U.S. of the time and place of the strike to allow for the evacuation of bases - most likely in Iraq. The presumed absence of American casualties would allow President Donald Trump to choose a de-escalation path rather than further escalation,» the agency's analysts wrote. They predicted that under such a scenario and in case of continuation of the military conflict with Israel, the price of oil will be around the $80 per barrel mark. If the confrontation with Israel is stopped, it will fall below $70, Bloomberg Economics suggested. A significant response from Iran and the escalation of the conflict will lead to a rise in oil prices to $130, the agency believes.

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Updated: the original publication said at least six missiles were launched towards Qatar. The data was updated after it was changed at the original source, Axios.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor