'Efforts to hide Iran war costs': US senator alleges denial of access to Al Udeid base in Qatar

US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy alleged that an "unprecedented and unconstitutional" effort is underway to conceal the impact of the Iran war after the Department of Defense allegedly denied him access to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a key US military base in the Middle East. Al Udeid Air Base has repeatedly come under attack from Iran during the war launched by the US and Israel in February.

"This trip confirmed for me that there is an active, unprecedented, unconstitutional effort underway to hide the costs of this war and the implications of this war from Congress and the American people," Murphy told a small group of journalists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the second stop on his trip. He also claimed that the Pentagon refused to arrange a briefing for him on the war while he was in the region.

"I've never encountered anything like this in my time in the Senate, and it's part of a deliberate campaign of obfuscation that my Republican colleagues in Congress should demand an end to," he said. Murphy made clear, however, that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had facilitated his visit, including arranging meetings with diplomats, a stance he contrasted with that of the Pentagon, led by Pete Hegseth. During his trip, Murphy met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as other senior Gulf officials.