Hours after US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire has been reached between Iran and Israel, a theory surfaced online stating that America's attack on nuclear sites and Iran's retaliatory missile attack on the Al Udeid American air base in Qatar were pre-planned.

 

Following the US attacks on Iran’s three nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, Tehran had vowed to avenge the strikes, launching missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base.

 

Describing the attack as “a very weak response” US President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social earlier in the day, thanked the country’s leadership for providing “early notice” of the retaliatory attack.

 

The US president also announced a “complete and total” ceasefire between Israel and Iran, set to be phased out over the next 24 hours after a frenetic day of conflict in the region.

 

"I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done," Trump said.

 

Qatar has confirmed that a total of 19 missiles were fired from Iran, adding that only one of those hit Al Udeid Air Base but caused no casualties.

 

The US president suddenly announcing the ceasefire and Qatar’s confirmation that Iran’s missiles claimed no lives, stemmed speculations that the assault on the US base was pre-planned and scripted.

 

Former central banker Kathleen Tyson took to X, writing, “[The] US moved all the aircraft off the airbase last week. This little tit for tat was scripted and agreed between Washington and Tehran.”

 

The New York Times’ war correspondent Farnaz Fassihi quoted three Iranian officials as stating that Tehran gave advanced notice to Qatar before launching attacks as a way to minimise casualties at the US base.

 

“Iran symbolically needed to strike back at the U.S. but at the same time carry it out in a way that allowed all sides an exit ramp, as it did in 2020,” she said, alluding to the Iranian response when it allegedly gave Iraq a heads up before firing ballistics missiles on US base in Iraq following the assassination of its top general Qasem Soleimani in a US strike on Baghdad.

 

According to the New York Times, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is the biggest U.S. base in the Middle East and serves as the regional headquarters for the U.S. Central Command. About 10,000 troops are stationed there.

 

The base is heavily fortified by an array of air defences. The U.S. military has been using Al Udeid since the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, when it positioned planes there to target the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Two years later, Al Udeid became the main U.S. air operations hub in the region.