Tehran/Washington, Jan 14 (.) Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Israel of trying to drag the US into a confrontation with Tehran and of instigating the massive political violence as the protests rage on.
In a post on X, Araghchi alleged that Israel was openly celebrating bloodshed inside Iran. “With blood on our streets, Israel is explicitly gloating about having ‘armed protestors with live weapons’ and saying ‘this is the reason for the hundreds of dead’,” he wrote.
He added that US President Donald Trump should know “exactly where to go to stop killings,” in an apparent reference to Israel.
The comments came as Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned both nations that Iran would respond forcefully to any attack.
Pointing to a past Iranian strike, Shamkhani wrote that the US president, who has repeatedly spoken of possible action against Iran’s nuclear sites, “would do better to also refer to the plowing of the American Al Udeid base by Iranian missiles.”
Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is the largest US military facility in the Middle East, hosting around 10,000 troops. Iran had fired missiles at the base in back in June, in retaliation for the US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
While the damage caused in itself was minimal, it nonetheless put authorities in both Washington and Doha to grow wary of future attacks, as the previous attack underscored Tehran’s full willingness to resort to direct military action against US assets in the region, putting other countries in the Middle East on high alert.
At a state-organised gathering in Tehran on Wednesday to honour security personnel killed during protests, demonstrators were shown holding a placard threatening Trump, which declared that a future shooting “would not miss”, in a reference to the attempted assassination of Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign rally.

Trump has taken an increasingly confrontational stance, warning Iran’s leadership not to use lethal force against protesters and saying Washington would respond if demonstrators were shot.
He has also publicly urged Iranians to continue protesting, whilst assuring them that “help is on the way,” remarks Tehran says is an open admission of foreign interference.
Amid this deteriorating geopolitical landscape, Qatar said it had taken precautionary measures at Al Udeid Air Base because of rising regional tensions, including the temporary departure of some personnel.
Qatar’s International Media Office said the steps were part of broader efforts to protect citizens, residents and critical infrastructure, and that any further developments would be announced through official channels.
Throughout the region, Washington has begun drawing off some of its military personnel from facilities, with the US mission to Saudi Arabia issuing a security alert on Wednesday, advising its diplomatic staff and citizens in KSA to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to military installations, citing the volatile regional situation.
Both the UK and UK have begun withdrawing military personnel from the Qatar Al Udeid Air Base as Iran tensions mount.
The base in question, just to the west of Doha, serves as the American hub in the Middle East, and normally hosts about 10,000 US personnel and about 1,000 British personnel.
The precautionary move is taking place in case there is a series of attacks or retaliatory responses by Iran, or its proxies, which include Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
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