Americans in Qatar told to shelter in place and airspace shut down as Iranian military threatens action

"The competent Qatari authorities announce the temporary suspension of air traffic in the country's airspace, in order to ensure the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors," Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it would "not hesitate to take all necessary preventive measures within this context."

The ministry promised to update the public as developments arise. 

The embassy said it made the recommendation "out of an abundance of caution" but provided no other details. Qatar is home to Al Udeid Air Base, where approximately 10,000 U.S. soldiers are deployed. The United Kingdom's Qatar embassy issued a similar warning after the U.S. 

"There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution."

"The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam's fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard," Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned in a statement. 

Qatar's foreign affairs spokesperson said the "advisory from a number of embassies to their citizens do not reflect the existence of specific threats."

"The security situation in the country is stable," the statement said, adding, "the relevant authorities are closely monitoring the situation and are ready to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors." 

Qatar has struck a delicate balance between friendly relations with its neighbor Iran and the West. 

While Iran is largely expected to launch a counterattack to the weekend's bombings, Israeli strikes have taken out Iran's missile launchers and depleted its stock of medium-range missiles.

The U.S. homeland, meanwhile, is under a "heightened threat environment" following the weekend's strikes, including "low-level cyber attacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against US networks."