KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has canceled its flights to Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it said on Monday, shortly after Iran struck United States (US) bases in Qatar with missiles.

Iran confirmed it had attacked American forces stationed at Qatar鈥檚 Al-Udeid air base. A caption on the screen called it 鈥渁 mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America鈥檚 aggression鈥� as martial music played during announcement on Iranian state television.

Qatar said it 鈥渟uccessfully intercepted鈥� missiles targeting the US base, and added it reserved the right to respond directly and in accordance with international law following the strikes. The US confirmed its air base in Qatar was targeted by missile attack from Iran and said no casualties were reported.

PIA said it had limited its flight operations as a precautionary measure due to the ongoing situation in the Gulf region, adding that its reservation department had started transferring the bookings of passengers to other flights.

鈥淧IA flights will be resumed after the situation returns to normal,鈥� the airline said in a statement. 鈥淎ll passengers who were traveling on these flights are requested to get timely information about their flights from the PIA call center.鈥�

A UAE government spokesperson said they were closely monitoring the regional developments and continuously assessing the situation.

Kuwait鈥檚 civil aviation body issued a statement, saying: 鈥淭he country鈥檚 airspace has been temporarily closed as a precautionary measure, starting today and until further notice. The decision comes within the framework of maintaining the highest levels of safety and security in light of regional developments.鈥�

The Al-Udeid air base is home to the US Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), which provides command and control of air power across the region as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, the largest expeditionary wing in the world.

Iran鈥檚 retaliation came a day after the US launched a surprise attack Sunday morning on three of Iran鈥檚 nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.

Just before the explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X: 鈥淲e neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer.鈥�