4 ms·

> Yes. Qatar Qatar, the country hosting the Al Udeid Air Base, the biggest US military base in the middle east? That Qatar?

alephnerd 7mo ago
The US only established Al Udeid in 1996. Iran on the other hand protected the Thani family during the failed 1996 countercoup, as well as collaborated with Qatar on extracting LNG from the Gulf. In the real world, countries compartamentalize relations and are not binary in nature. This is how India can both arm Israel [0] as well as transit Hormuz with Iranian backing [1] and continue to operate Chabahar Port [2] despite neighboring Konarak Port being hit [3]. When countries break this norm of compartmentalization, that is when they become actively belligerent. Also, by this logic (which is flawed), we would be justified in striking Iran, as Iran has aided and abetted Russia in their war against Ukraine, thus Iran can arguably be treated as another front of the larger US-Russia and by extension US-China conflict. [0] - https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2024/6/26/india-exports-rockets-explosives-to-israel-amid-gaza-war-documents-reveal https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2024/6/26/india-expor... [1] - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-among-five-nations-granted-passage-through-strait-of-hormuz-by-tehran/article70786984.ece https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-among-five-nati... [2] - https://www.financialexpress.com/policy/economy/no-damage-to-india-funded-chabahar-port-terminal/4159308/lite/ https://www.financialexpress.com/policy/economy/no-damage-to... [3] - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxzzkkkwjqo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxzzkkkwjqo
- mullingitover 7mo ago
  I realize Qatar is in an "it's complicated" relationship, it's just amusing to me that people feign shock that Iran would consider them fair game while omitting the detail of them kinda being a client state hosting a huge US military base.
  - alephnerd 7mo ago
    The thing is, if we accept the norms that Qatar can be targeted for kinetic action by Iran for hosting US assets or by the US for hosting Iranian assets, then that opens a MASSIVE can of worms. This means Ukraine has the precedent in place to target the Chongqing–Xinjiang–Europe railway in Russia in retaliation for Chinese support of Russia [0]. This also means all of Europe is fair game to be striked by Russia in retaliation for supporting Ukraine [2]. This also means South Korea considering rearming Ukraine [4] due to North Korean involvement in the Ukraine War could make it a direct belligerent against Russia. This is why sentiments hardened globally and especially amongst Gulf States once they were targeted by Iran. Accepting that nations like Qatar, Turkiye, and Azerbaijan that have an avowed policy of compartmentalized relations are fair game to strike means we have to accept we are in a de facto World War. The attempted strike on Diego Garcia was similarly destabilizing in it's implications [5] [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing%E2%80%93Xinjiang%E2%80%93Europe_railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing%E2%80%93Xinjiang%E2%... [1] - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/10/zelenskyy-warns-russia-china-stepping-up-military-industrial-cooperation https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/10/zelenskyy-warns-ru... [2] - https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/eu-support-ukraine_en https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/eu-s... [3] - https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-saudi-arabia-mbs-gulf-war-uae-89f690b952fe28d3140c537b70fa5051 https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-saudi-arabia-mbs-gulf-... [4] - https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20260220/korea-mulls-joining-nato-initiative-to-fund-weapons-for-ukraine https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20260220/korea-m... [5] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47469049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47469049
    - maxglute 7mo ago
      There is no can of worms. Hosting US assets actively being used in war vs Iran = being active co-belligerents. Host countries no longer neutral when they don't adhere to duty of abstention (Hague Convention V). This not even Iran using deniable proxies, this is Qatar allowing sovereign territory to facilitate attack on Iran, which unambiguously makes them legitimate target. Ditto with Diego Garcia. In the same way railway in RU already legitimate target for UKR because in RU soil. If EU sending out sorties from NATO bases to hit RU then they too would be active belligerents. There's no compartmentalizing using territory to shoot someone else.

alephnerd 7mo ago

The US only established Al Udeid in 1996. Iran on the other hand protected the Thani family during the failed 1996 countercoup, as well as collaborated with Qatar on extracting LNG from the Gulf. In the real world, countries compartamentalize relations and are not binary in nature. This is how India can both arm Israel [0] as well as transit Hormuz with Iranian backing [1] and continue to operate Chabahar Port [2] despite neighboring Konarak Port being hit [3]. When countries break this norm of compartmentalization, that is when they become actively belligerent. Also, by this logic (which is flawed), we would be justified in striking Iran, as Iran has aided and abetted Russia in their war against Ukraine, thus Iran can arguably be treated as another front of the larger US-Russia and by extension US-China conflict. [0] - https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2024/6/26/india-exports-rockets-explosives-to-israel-amid-gaza-war-documents-reveal https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2024/6/26/india-expor... [1] - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-among-five-nations-granted-passage-through-strait-of-hormuz-by-tehran/article70786984.ece https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-among-five-nati... [2] - https://www.financialexpress.com/policy/economy/no-damage-to-india-funded-chabahar-port-terminal/4159308/lite/ https://www.financialexpress.com/policy/economy/no-damage-to... [3] - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxzzkkkwjqo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxzzkkkwjqo

mullingitover 7mo ago
I realize Qatar is in an "it's complicated" relationship, it's just amusing to me that people feign shock that Iran would consider them fair game while omitting the detail of them kinda being a client state hosting a huge US military base.
- alephnerd 7mo ago
  The thing is, if we accept the norms that Qatar can be targeted for kinetic action by Iran for hosting US assets or by the US for hosting Iranian assets, then that opens a MASSIVE can of worms. This means Ukraine has the precedent in place to target the Chongqing–Xinjiang–Europe railway in Russia in retaliation for Chinese support of Russia [0]. This also means all of Europe is fair game to be striked by Russia in retaliation for supporting Ukraine [2]. This also means South Korea considering rearming Ukraine [4] due to North Korean involvement in the Ukraine War could make it a direct belligerent against Russia. This is why sentiments hardened globally and especially amongst Gulf States once they were targeted by Iran. Accepting that nations like Qatar, Turkiye, and Azerbaijan that have an avowed policy of compartmentalized relations are fair game to strike means we have to accept we are in a de facto World War. The attempted strike on Diego Garcia was similarly destabilizing in it's implications [5] [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing%E2%80%93Xinjiang%E2%80%93Europe_railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing%E2%80%93Xinjiang%E2%... [1] - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/10/zelenskyy-warns-russia-china-stepping-up-military-industrial-cooperation https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/10/zelenskyy-warns-ru... [2] - https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/eu-support-ukraine_en https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/eu-s... [3] - https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-saudi-arabia-mbs-gulf-war-uae-89f690b952fe28d3140c537b70fa5051 https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-saudi-arabia-mbs-gulf-... [4] - https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20260220/korea-mulls-joining-nato-initiative-to-fund-weapons-for-ukraine https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20260220/korea-m... [5] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47469049 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47469049
  - maxglute 7mo ago
    There is no can of worms. Hosting US assets actively being used in war vs Iran = being active co-belligerents. Host countries no longer neutral when they don't adhere to duty of abstention (Hague Convention V). This not even Iran using deniable proxies, this is Qatar allowing sovereign territory to facilitate attack on Iran, which unambiguously makes them legitimate target. Ditto with Diego Garcia. In the same way railway in RU already legitimate target for UKR because in RU soil. If EU sending out sorties from NATO bases to hit RU then they too would be active belligerents. There's no compartmentalizing using territory to shoot someone else.