Official says move is ‘posture change’; Tehran signals fast trials and executions for protesters as official death toll in crackdown passes 2,500, though actual number may be much higher
By Agencies, Lazar Berman Follow
and ToI Staff14 January 2026, 4:52 pm
File: A US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, arrives at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar on April 9, 2016. (Staff Sgt. Corey Hook/U.S. Air Force via AP)
Amid concerns of a new round of fighting with Iran, some personnel were advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday and Israel’s official state plane was briefly flown out of the country, as Iran said it was at “peak readiness” for potential conflict.
Tehran has said it will attack Israel and US military bases in the Middle East if US President Donald Trump were to carry out strikes in response to Iran’s mass killing of anti-government protesters.
According to an Israeli assessment, Trump has decided to intervene, although the scope and timing of this action remains unclear, an unnamed Israeli official told Reuters.
Three diplomats told the news agency that some personnel had been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
One of the diplomats described the move as a “posture change” rather than an “ordered evacuation.”
There was no sign of a large-scale movement of troops off the base to a nearby soccer stadium and shopping mall, as took place last year in the hours before Iran targeted the base with missiles in retaliation for US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear targets.
The US embassy in Doha had no immediate comment and Qatar’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest American base, housing around 10,000 troops. Ahead of the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program in June, some personnel were moved off US bases in the Middle East.
Also on Wednesday, Israel’s state Wing of Zion plane took off from the Nevatim Air Force base near Beersheba and headed out over the Mediterranean, landing in Greece’s Crete.
The plane had departed Israel ahead of past rounds of fighting with Iran to avoid it being targeted by Iranian missiles, sparking speculation that this was the case.
However, the plane returned to Israel hours later, after unnamed Israeli officials cited by Hebrew-language media said it was engaged in a regularly scheduled training mission.
On June 13, hours after Israel launched its attack on Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile sites, Wing of Zion took off from Ben Gurion Airport. Prior to Iran’s April 13, 2024, missile and drone attack on Israel, Wing of Zion was flown out from Nevatim Airbase, which was later targeted.
Trump has been openly threatening to intervene in Iran for days, though without giving specifics.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, the US president vowed “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters. “If they hang them, you’re going to see some things,” he said. He also urged Iranian to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way.”
Relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, who was detained last week, have said they have been informed he would be executed on Wednesday. A relative said that a court had issued a death sentence “in an extremely rapid process, within just two days.”
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish human rights group, told Reuters on Wednesday it had not been able to confirm whether the sentence had been carried out.
Protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. It said Wednesday that at least 2,571 people had been killed and more than 18,100 had been arrested in the more than two weeks of protests. The Mossad is said to believe the death toll is more than twice as high.
On Wednesday, a funeral ceremony was held in Tehran for over 100 members of the security forces killed in the wave of protests.
The ceremony, attended by thousands of people waving flags of the Islamic Republic, began with prayers being read out for the dead outside Tehran University, according to state media.
Meanwhile, Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Commander Majid Mousavi claimed that Iran’s stockpile of missiles has increased since its 12-day war with Israel last year, and that the Islamic Republic was at “peak readiness” ahead of the potential fighting.
“We are at the peak of our readiness,” Mousavi was quoted as saying by state media, adding that wartime damages have been repaired and output in various areas by the Guards’ aerospace forces is higher than before June 2025.
Last month, NBC reported that Israeli officials were concerned about Iran’s growing ballistic missile program, with one source warning that, left unchecked, the country’s production could climb to as many as 3,000 missiles per year.
Another report has suggested that Israel believes Iran currently possesses some 2,000 ballistic missiles, roughly the same number it had on the eve of the 12-day war. Analysts are said to have concluded that the damage Israel inflicted on Iran’s ballistic missile program during the conflict with the Islamic Republic was “less severe” than initially assessed.
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