Iran coordinated with Qatari officials the attack on the U.S. Air Force base Al-Udeid in Qatar to minimize the number of casualties. This was reported by The New York Times, citing three Iranian sources familiar with the details, who added that Iran needed to strike back at the U.S. "symbolically," but at the same time carried out the attack in a way that would allow all parties to "climb down the tree" - similar to Iran's retaliatory action at the American base in Iraq after the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.