By Andrew Mills, Parisa Hafezi and Alexander Cornwell DOHA/ISTANBUL/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Iran's military said it carried out a missile attack on the Al Udeid U.S. airbase in Qatar on Monday after explosions were heard across the Qatari capital following Tehran's threat to retaliate for U.

Iran fired 19 missiles at the US’s Al Udeid airbase on Monday. The Qatari defence forces intercepted 18, Ministry of Interior officials confirmed in the hours after the attack. The base is located 35 kilometres (21 miles) from Doha, but the incoming barrage of missiles flew over the capital, which had become gripped with tension.

As of this month, the U.S. military had about 40,000 service members in the Middle East, according to a U.S. official.