Report: Iranian bombers were shot down ‘2 minutes’ before striking largest US military base in Middle East

5 March 2026, 7:20 am

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Iranian warplanes were “two minutes” away from striking Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, the largest military base housing American troops in the Middle East, before Qatari F-15 planes shot them down, CNN reports, citing two unnamed sources briefed on the matter.

The Revolutionary Guards’ Soviet-era Su-24 tactical bombers were identified carrying “bombs and guided munitions” toward al-Udeid, which usually houses some 10,000 US troops, and Qatar’s Ras Laffan natural gas processing compound, and didn’t answer radio calls, one of the sources says.

The planes crashed in Qatari territorial waters, with searches underway for the crews, officials say.