Tehran’s retaliation against Washington’s Gulf allies offers lessons for a potential Taiwan conflict, analysts say
3-MIN READ3-MIN1Amber Wangin BeijingPublished: 10:00pm, 11 Mar 2026Iran’s retaliatory strikes on US military assets across the Middle East serve as a preview of how Beijing might target American bases in Asian countries in the event of a Taiwan Strait conflict, according to analysts.
Those targets included Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military base in the Middle East, which serves as the regional headquarters of the United States Central Command.
“These moves by Iran against nearby US military bases in the Persian Gulf region do absolutely highlight the possibility that in a Taiwan scenario that China would likely target US bases throughout the Asia-Pacific region,” said Lyle Goldstein, a senior fellow at Brown University’s Watson School of International and Public Affairs.
