A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II lands at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Sept. 5, 2023. The U.S. has reportedly reached a deal with Qatar to extend its military presence at Al Udeid for another 10 years. (Leon Redfern/U.S. Air Force)
The U.S. military will continue operating out of its largest base in the Middle East for another 10 years as part of a recent agreement with Qatar, reports said Wednesday.
The deal allows the U.S. to extend its military presence at Al Udeid Air Base, three unnamed defense officials and another person familiar with the agreement said, according to CNN. Reuters later reported the same information, citing an unnamed source.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation Wednesday.
Al Udeid Air Base has been key to American operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria over the past two decades.
The reports follow a visit by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Al Udeid last month, where he thanked Qatar for spending billions on revamping the base.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Qatar Defense Minister Khaled Al Attiyah stand during the playing of the American national anthem at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Dec. 19, 2023. The U.S. has reportedly reached a deal with Qatar to extend its military presence at Al Udeid for another 10 years. (Alexander Cook/U.S. Air Force)
The Gulf country’s spending “will support both of our forces for years to come,” Austin said in remarks ahead of his meeting with Qatar’s defense minister Dec. 19.
Qatar has been funding the replacement of temporary buildings on base with lasting structures, U.S. military officers told Stars and Stripes in 2022.
These facilities will be able to last up to 75 years and will have walls hardened to protect against rocket attacks, Col. Anthony Figiera, director of Air Forces Central’s program management office, said at the time.
Qatar was recently designated a major non-NATO ally because of its close ties with the U.S. military. But the country has had a complicated relationship with the base over the years.
Maj. Samuel Richardson, construction management chief at the 9th Air Force program management office, points to the location of two dining facilities — one new and one old — on a future site plan map of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in 2022. The U.S. has reportedly reached a deal with Qatar to extend its military presence at Al Udeid for another 10 years. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)
For a long time, Qatar avoided drawing attention to the large American base not far from the capital of Doha because of sensitivities among citizens about the U.S. military footprint.
But Qatari officials started to tout the American presence in recent years. The country assisted in the U.S. evacuation of more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan in 2021.
It also has played a large role in helping broker the release of some of the approximately 240 hostages taken by Hamas during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Reports of the Al Udeid agreement come amid a rise in conflict between American troops and Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East. Militants have staged more than 100 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria and off the shore of Yemen since the start of Israel-Hamas war in October.
