Iranian Drone Damages Residential Building in Kuwait City, Authorities Report No Casualties

Kuwait hit by drone

An Iranian drone attack damaged a residential building in Kuwait City, and authorities reported no casualties. Al Jazeera said the attack came as Iran targeted US military assets across Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and the UAE in retaliation for US strikes on Iran.

Al-Monitor described how Kuwait’s Iranian community has faced pressure since the war erupted, including a Persian restaurant in Kuwait City removing any mention of Iran from its name. Al-Monitor also quoted an Iranian resident, Hussein, saying, "We are going through an extremely difficult time," as he described the impact of renewed strikes and the fear of backlash for speaking about the issue.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraAl-Monitor

Revenge vows and deaths

Iranian officials and commanders framed the escalation as retaliation, with Al-Quds al-Arabi saying Iran launched new attacks targeting American interests in the Gulf and acknowledging 13 military deaths. Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Tasnim News Agency said six more Iranian military personnel died in American strikes this week, bringing the death toll of military personnel to 13, including three pilots.

In the same reporting, Al-Quds al-Arabi quoted Hossein Salami vowing revenge, saying, "the pure blood of these martyrs will not be wasted, and we will avenge it." BBC reported that Salami warned of revenge for four people killed at a wedding in the south of the country, and quoted him saying, "the pure blood of these martyrs... will not go in vain, and we will avenge it surely."

Reporting for this sectionAl-Quds al-ArabiBBC

Bases, interceptions, and stakes

As Iran said it targeted American bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates with missiles and drones, Kuwait’s air defenses repelled attacks, according to the accounts cited by AP and BBC.

AP said sirens sounded in Kuwait early on Thursday and that air defenses intercepted missiles and drones during a "blatant Iranian aggression," while it tied the strikes to retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week.

BBC reported that Jordan’s official TV reported sirens in the Mafraq and Aqaba governorates as the U.S. Central Command announced new strikes inside Iran, and it said Jordan’s air defenses intercepted ten ballistic missiles launched from Iran.

BBC also described the stakes for the wider region through the remarks of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who said the U.S. was investigating the reported wedding strike and added that "everything is on the table" to pressure Iran, including economic, military, diplomatic, and covert pressure.

Reporting for this sectionAP NewsBBC