US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the United States has finalized an agreement allowing Qatar to build an Air Force facility in Idaho.
He said the facility – where pilots from the Gulf state will be trained to fly F-15 fighter jets – will be established at Mountain Home Air Base in the northwestern US state.
“It’s just another example of our partnership,” Hegseth said during a meeting with his Qatari counterpart Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the Pentagon on Friday.
Hegseth also praised Qatar for playing a “big role” in efforts led by President Donald Trump to secure it Gaza ceasefire and hostage return agreement.
Qatar – along with Egypt and Turkey – was an active mediator during months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Hegseth said on Friday that he was “proud that today we are signing a letter of acceptance to build a facility for the Qatari Emiri Air Force at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.”
“The site will host a contingent of F-15 aircraft and Qatari pilots to enhance our joint training, increase lethality, and interoperability. It is just another example of our partnership.
“You can count on us,” Hegseth told Al Thani.
The US Secretary of Defense did not mention the number of Qatari F-15 aircraft that will be stationed at the Idaho facility and when they will enter service.
It amounts to an unusual security agreement between America and a key Arab ally, roughly mirroring aspects of the NATO alliance.
The move came after Israeli airstrikes targeted Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, on September 9, killing several low-level members of the Palestinian movement, along with a Qatari security official.
Qatar hosts Washington’s largest military base in the Middle East – Al Udeid Base.
The base was home to the US Army’s headquarters for all air operations in the region Iran earlier attacked this in response to US strikes against its nuclear sites.
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