US says Qatar to build air force facility in Idaho

The US has finalised an agreement that will allow Qatar to build an air force facility in Idaho, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced.

He said the facility – where pilots from the Gulf state would be trained to fly F-15 fighter jets – would be established at the Mountain Home Airbase in the north-western US state.

“It’s just another example of our partnership,” Hegseth said during a meeting with his Qatari counterpart, Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, at the Pentagon on Friday.

Hegseth also praised Qatar for playing a “substantial role” in efforts led by President Donald Trump to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage return deal.

Qatar – along with Egypt and Turkey – has been an active mediator during months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

On Friday, Hegseth said he was “proud that today we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force Facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho”.

“The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability, it’s just another example of our partnership.

“You can count on us,” Hegseth told al-Thani.

The Pentagon chief did not say how many Qatari F-15s would be based at the Idaho facility, and when it would become operational.

Last month, President Trump signed an executive order pledging to use all measures – including the US military – to defend Qatar.

The order amounts to an extraordinary security pact between America and a key Arab ally, almost mirroring aspects of a Nato alliance.

The move came after Israeli air strikes targeted Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital Doha on 9 September, leaving several lower-level members of the Palestinian group dead, along with a Qatari security official.

Qatar hosts Washington’s biggest military base in the Middle East – the al-Udeid.

The base – home to the US military’s headquarters for all air operations in the region – was attacked earlier this by Iran in retaliation for American strikes against its nuclear sites.