Public sentiment surrounding the escalating tensions between Iran and the U.S. is largely characterized by anxiety, frustration, and skepticism towards both U.S. foreign policy and Qatar's role in the conflict. Many commenters express concern for safety, criticize political leadership, and call for peace, while some sympathize with Iran's right to defend itself. The comments show a general desire to de-escalate military actions and a recognition of the complexities of the situation, with many feeling that the current path could lead to greater conflict and suffering.

United States

Qatar

Iran

We *had* a strong nuclear deal with Iran … Trump ended it during his first term.

LittleShrub

Asking Iran to give up nukes works EVERYTIME we do it!

  
Now that the USA has abandoned Ukraine following their voluntary disarming,, this will NEVER happen again.

  
We failed to keep our promise and the Kremlin bombed their babies and raped their children. 

  
Nukes are the only safety now thanks to MAGA weakness.

Agitated-Ad6744

Temporary-Job-9049

This means the negotiations are not going well.

The-M0untain

Trump is in a difficult position here. Iran actually getting a nuclear weapon would cross a red line for both Israel and the U.S., and Iran enriching past a certain threshold would trigger a war, even if Trump is against it. Iran has been slowly inching towards it, and eventually they will have enough facilities spread throughout the country capable of making a weapon that strikes alone might not be enough. We might even be there already.

Israel might be able to set the Iranians back with strikes alone, but their expeditionary capabilities are far more limited. Iran would then retaliate, both against Israel and other foreign partners, which would draw the U.S. in anyway.

It is seemingly increasingly likely that either the U.S. must allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, which would be catastrophic, or that the U.S. must go to war to stop it. Both are bad options, and the only alternative is that Iran willingly dismantles its nuclear program *entirely*, which seems very unlikely.

boldmove_cotton

Pretty sure Qatar and Iran are on opposite sides of the Shia/Sunni divide. So, it’s in Qatar’s interest to weaken Iran. But, not because the orange doofus asked.

[deleted]

Qatar is the master diplomat of the world. They manage good relations with everyone; Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, China, USA, etc. Nobody else can pull this off. They were behind supporting the worst of the head chopping islamic extremists in the middle east in the last 10 years and no reprisal for it, no mention in the media. Nobody can pull this off but them. They aren't even neutral like the Swiss, they just manage diplomacy that well.

Yemen used to have a pro-Saudi government but the Houthis toppled it. Saudis moved in with the backing of US/UK to put their puppet government back in but failed to do so. Houthis are the toughest and most martial Arabs in the middle east. They're fiercely independent. When Saudis invaded I was calling it a war of the toughest Arabs vs the fattest Arabs, the Saudis were never going to defeat them. Western media portrayed Houthis as an Iranian proxy militia for years but this was Saudi propaganda, they wanted nothing to do with Iran until Saudi Arabia invaded them. Now that Saudi Arabia is out they will likely go back to being independent again. They see themselves as the purest Arabs, don't even like other Arabs, let alone Iranians.

Syria is now back under control of Assad. He's still trying to get his oil fields back which is controlled by US forces and their allies (Kurds). USA sits in Eastern Syria for two reasons, cut Assad from his oil and also break up the land corridor between Iran and the Mediterranean.

Iraq is now a vassal of Iran and follows Iran's lead. They have no real sovereignty, much like Germany or Australia's relationship with USA. A few months ago they even made it illegal in Iraq to have relations with Israel. USA has started sanctioning Iraqi banks for dealing with Iran. There is still a US base in West Iraq which is used to separate Iran from Syria and support their 3 bases in Syria.

Egypt is run by Sisi who is largely pro-Israel / pro-West. He's a military dictator that did a coup against a democratically elected government but this dictatorship is supported because it's pro-West. Saudi Arabia also supports this because he stomped on Muslim Brotherhood, which was one of Saudi Arabia's foremost political enemies.

Saudi Arabia under MBS might be undergoing a shift of strategy right now. MBS was hyper-aggressive for years but now he's out making peace with everyone.

Iran is trying to get sanctions lifted but has internal issues because the IRGC has basically taken over the economy from within. The Grand Ayatollah now spends most of his political capital trying to jostle between Iranian urban liberals wanting reforms and Hardliners that are still the same reactionary conservatives from decades ago. The government has to appease the rural Iranians or they are toast - the Shah learned this too late. Media portrays the Ayatollah/regime as the crazy ones but they're about the half way point and keep a lid on the entire country. The IRGC is basically a State within a State, it operates a bit like a mafia and a bit like a nation state. In Western media they are portrayed as radical Shiites but that is an inaccurate paradigm, I would look at them more like a mafia. Their allies have included Sunni extremists in Palestine, secular Arab nationalists in Syria, communists in Kurdish areas, Christian Armenians. Their motive is power and money. If Qatar are #1 diplomats in the world, then Iran is #1 at asymmetrical/proxy warfare, but they're awful at diplomacy. The IRGC/hardliners are kind of stuck between requiring firebrand rhetoric to appease their traditional demographic at home, but also managing international relations. They can't do both.

sticky_jizzsocks

Saudi, Qatar and UAE are all Sunni majority states unlike Iran which is Shia majority. Iran has had its anti US/ anti Israel stand for a while now, but the Arab spring of the 2010s, continued support of groups like Hamas, Houthis and Balochis has continued to undermine the administrations in these countries. 

Not to forget the Arab spring affected Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, etc too

Syria is a microcosm of the the issue elsewhere- Sunni majority but ruled by the Alawites (Al Assads) - the power and money is also largely in the hands of the Christians. Similar story with Lebanon.

hinterstoisser

Everyone becomes armchair geopolitics expert in a night. It is a face-saving strike by Iran, Qatar and US is warned beforehand. Hence the closure of airspace.

ianosphere

I am here 👋🏼 

That being said, yes, had not seen this coming but now I’m reading online that it was probably done in Qatar because of their friendly ties. The below are the actual facts of the attack.  

1) Iran had informed Qatar in advance about the attack. Hence the closure of airspace so that no plane gets caught in the cross fire. 

2) Qatar reserves the right to retaliate, but let’s be real, that ain’t happening.  

3) Iran had informed USA in advance, hence all non-essential personnel were moved out of the base. Thereby reducing the risk of human casualties. Also US embassy sending out email to their citizens earlier today. Source - Trumps statement. 

4) This attack was more of a symbolic attack rather than an attack to cause real damage. Let’s be honest, if Iran wants, they can go all out banana’s simultaneously on different USA targets. We have seen they have missiles &amp; drones which are good enough to beat the iron dome. 

5) Al Udeid base is away from the city. Not a valid reason but it still reduces civilian casualties if shit hit the fan. Nonetheless, the debris which fell must have also caused damage and injuries as seen in the videos circulating on WhatsApp. 

6) Predict the unpredictable and like OP said, take warnings seriously. The email from US embassy should have been seen a clear sign that something is bound to happen. It’s not like everyday they send out such mails.

oz6996

be civil man, everyone was obviously downplaying in a form of "coping" with the situation, would you want everyone to be in panic mode? of course not,ideally what everyone wants is for the situation to be safe and stable.

what made since 3 hours ago was for iran to never touch any of the gcc counties since they are not part of the conflict but iran had to retaliate and i guess they poorly decided on this base in qatar,now the big question remains if there would be more and for everyone to remain as calm as possible as to not ruin the atmosphere that is still intact here

DarkNessdaboss

I still dismiss the fear mongering. Iran and Qatar already knew it would happen. This act on Qatar was to save face after the US strike on Iran. Qatar allowed the strike on them. 

Also, Iran attacked the US and not Qatar

qatamat99

Those folks dont know how to”War” works 😂

Consistent-Panda-505

I get where you're coming from, and no doubt the situation felt intense — but personally, I still believe this was more of a calculated de-escalation than a real escalation and the fear was overly exaggerated. Iran firing a handful of rockets toward a remote U.S. base in Qatar (with no casualties or real damage) feels more symbolic than anything else — like they’re just trying to save face.

It’s starting to look like a three-way performance between Iran, the U.S., and Israel. Everyone plays their role, Iran looks defiant for its domestic and regional audience, and the U.S. and Israel get to keep pushing their narratives — all while avoiding a real war.

Just my two cents, but the more this unfolds, the more choreographed it all seems.

mrmoe933

Me me! Still not concerned because iran isn't like Isreal (may Allah destroy them) to bomb civilian areas. They bombed US army base

Capable-Bumblebee-88

Ome of the risks of having a foreign AFB in your country

National-Hornet8060

Severe_Score2167

iqzxx

Hmmmm…. I don’t know how to interpret it but everyone here is looking at the sky with their mobile phone. So chill mate!

pakner44

Bro this is what I was saying, most people in this subreddit are delusional. They were downplaying what’s actually happening

Datrix2003

I was one of them! but hey it's all over now so it's fine.

booboouser

saw an offical announcement on donald trump’s page that they would ceasefire soon?

giganiga1221

everyone knew oran was going to target the us air base in qatar, what was surprising?

Solo_Sniper97

![gif](giphy|FXf1lYQ2tFouxeLb1B|downsized)

A lot of things i want to say

Dry-Hat-9509

![gif](giphy|FXf1lYQ2tFouxeLb1B|downsized)

A lot of things i want to say, but i’ll say one thing: Please open your eyes

Literally nothing happened. A couple of glowy orbs littered the sky and everyone is pretending like they’ve just survived a calamity. Good God, not every resident in this country can be THAT bored.

SignificantBoot7784

Whats the point of this other than for your ego to gloat?  Do you have Iran Supreme Leader number to call him and tell him to chill? Can you text President Trump and say, "Dont Bomb Iran?" There's nothing that you nor I can do when two countries are deciding to hurt each other. Keeping people calm in a bad situation is the best that can happen. "Down playing it" is what they should do otherwise the country would have been in complete panic and causing more injuries or even death. Let the Government do its job and don't cause more problems. You can help by checking on your friends and neighbors before, during and after. Ensure you have water and food stored for a few days, dont go out in public if you can help it.

NeitherOne3236

Why is everyone saying that last night's event is a "Face-Saving" strike? wtf does that mean?

MNNKOP

&gt; Before midnight on Monday, Qatari officials convened a group of journalists in a purple meeting room to protest a missile barrage from Iran that targeted a large U.S. military installation in the desert outside the Qatari capital, Doha.
&gt; 
&gt; Majed al-Ansari, the foreign ministry spokesman, declared that his country had the right to respond to the attack a few hours earlier. At the same time, he called for de-escalating the new war between Israel and Iran and for cease-fire negotiations.
&gt; 
&gt; But it seems that Qatar had already begun to help to broker a truce, engaging quietly with Israel’s American allies and with the Iranian government behind the scenes.
&gt; 
&gt; “What happened shows Qatar can take a hit but be pragmatic,” said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House.
&gt; 
&gt; After the United States intervened on the side of Israel and bombed Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday morning, Iran responded by attacking the Al Udeid aid base in Qatar.
&gt; Want to stay updated on what’s happening in the Middle East? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.
&gt; 
&gt; Qatar knew in advance that an attack on the base was planned on and almost all missiles fired at the site were intercepted, according to Maj. Gen. Shayeq Misfer al-Hajri, the Qatari deputy chief of staff for joint operations.
&gt; 
&gt; On Tuesday, the Qatari foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador in Doha but did not announce any punitive measures against Iran.
&gt; 
&gt; The Qatari government’s swift shift from defending its right to respond to playing mediator suggested an element of “choreography,” said Nicholas Hopton, who was Britain’s ambassador to Qatar from 2013 to 2015.
&gt; 
&gt; As Qatar and the other Gulf nations watched the Israel-Iran war unfold over the past two weeks, they worried that an escalation could result in Iran targeting their strategic energy resources, undermining a critical source of their revenue.
&gt; 
&gt; If the Iranian government was set on targeting American soldiers in the Gulf, it may have viewed the base in Qatar as less likely to provoke an escalation or damage its relations with some other Gulf Arab countries, which had been warming in recent years.
&gt; 
&gt; The wealthy emirate of Qatar has generally maintained closer ties with Iran than most of the other Gulf countries. It has also played a leading role in mediating between Israel and Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group, since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.
&gt; 
&gt; If Iran attacked another Gulf nation, it might have run into more complicated territory.
&gt; 
&gt; The headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia’s oil installations could also have been become targets. But Iran’s diplomatic relations with these two other Gulf nations are still new and relatively shaky.
&gt; 
&gt; The United Arab Emirates is one of Iran’s largest trading partners, offering Iran a vital link to the global economy as it navigates longstanding Western sanctions. The prospect of missiles flying over Dubai, a glitzy metropolis in the Emirates, would have alienated a neighbor that Iran depends on.
&gt; 
&gt; Qatari officials intervened with Iran on behalf of the Trump administration, according to three diplomats briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. They said that Mr. Trump had told the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, that Israel had signed off on an American cease-fire proposal.
&gt; 
&gt; The president had asked Qatar to help bring Iran on board, the diplomats said. The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, then persuaded Iran to agree to the truce proposal by late Monday in a call with the Iranian leadership, the diplomats said.
&gt; 
&gt; A senior White House official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly, said the Qatari emir played a role in the cease-fire discussions.
&gt; 
&gt; The truce took effect early Tuesday morning and appeared to be holding as evening approached.
&gt; 
&gt; Qatar’s handling of the crisis illustrated the value the wealthy Gulf emirate puts in its relationship with the United States, said Mr. Hopton, the former British diplomat.
&gt; 
&gt; “Trump wanted a de-escalation and Qatar was able to help him with that,” Mr. Hopton said.
&gt; 
&gt; A pillar of Qatar’s foreign policy is to maintain a close relationship with the United States, and Qatari officials frequently take advantage of opportunities to prove to the American government that they can be a strategic ally on important American foreign policy objectives.
&gt; 
&gt; With a small army, Qatar relies on the United States to provide it with a security blanket. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, powerful neighboring countries, have occasionally taken hostile positions against Qatar.

HaLoGuY007

Ofcourse lol, did you people really think iran was gonna bomb shit out of qatar?

wearesoback786

New_Past_4489

I think they were better off not attacking the US and taking it out on Israel. It makes strategic sense too.

This is especially the case if the bombs did little damage. 

Honestly should just take the W with regards to the US don't give them a reason to bomb again and join the war and essentially tell them "cool, yiu did your one strike that you said wasn't going to be an official entry into the war and achieved nothing? Sounds good we'll keep bombing Israel now".

redosipod

I support Iran in this conflict, but why are they being overly careful? The time for carefullness has passed and the US won't stop, regardless of Iran's action.

AdResponsible5207

ahmac1411l3

I suspect that rather than giving Israel an out, this was more Netanyahu maneuvering and manipulating Trump into attacking Iran...but Trump doing the absolute bare minimum and pullout out instantly. Not that I give the orange moron any credit for doing something like the right thing (de-escalation), I think he saw his whole base turning on him and shat himself.

With any luck, poor Bibi is seething right now because the US didn't destroy Iran for him...

SyllabubTasty5896

Emotional-Buy1932

They needed to attack America, but as a joke, just to say they did. Now they can say they are real men.

UnlikelyCorner2582

SomebodyGetAHoldOfJa

Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate between Iran and U.S. forces, with Qatar playing a pivotal role in diffusing potential conflict.

Iran-US Tensions and Qatar's Role

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