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Kuwait hit, mourning in Iran
Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday as violence and military actions intensified across Gaza, Lebanon and Israel, with the escalation framed as retaliation for US bombardments earlier this week.
“Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday as part of its retaliation for US bombardments earlier this week”
In Iran, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of four victims killed in an airstrike at a wedding in the south of the country, state TV reported, as caskets wrapped in the Iranian flag were carried through the streets of the port town of Kuhestak.
The Iranian state TV account said a person injured in the attack had died, taking the death toll to five, after a US missile hit a home in Kuhestak on Tuesday night where dozens had gathered to celebrate the wedding of a fisherman's daughter.
The funeral and the Kuwait strike unfolded alongside Israeli attacks that killed three Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, according to officials at Shifa hospital, where the casualties were taken.
Air corridors disrupted
Renewed US-Iran strikes disrupted flights across the Gulf, prompting airlines operating across the Middle East to reshape schedules and review routings after US forces struck Iranian air-defense and radar systems and Tehran retaliated against US military positions and allies across the region.
Kuwait reported further missile and drone attacks early Thursday, saying its air defenses intercepted the incoming threats, while Bahrain said Iranian drones had been intercepted.
Reuters reported that only four commodity vessels crossed the Strait on Wednesday, compared with a 10-day average of about 13, according to preliminary Kpler data.
The travel disruption extended to specific carriers, with Gulf News reporting that Emirates canceled its Dubai-Basra service and Air France suspended Dubai services until Sept. 4, with flights departing Dubai suspended through Sept. 5.
Revenge vows and retaliation
Iran vowed revenge for the wedding massacre victims as IRGC commander Hossein Salami said in a statement carried by state television that "the pure blood of these martyrs... will not go in vain, and we will avenge it surely."
“the pure blood of these martyrs... will not go in vain, and we will avenge it surely”
In parallel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the threat could be "removed" once and for all, i.e., the Iranian regime toppled, adding that the regime was "wobbling right now, weaker than ever, and fighting to survive."
The BBC described the strike as occurring Tuesday night in the southern coastal city of Kumestak overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, after the United States announced strikes targeting IRGC facilities, with Iranian authorities saying the raid killed at least four people including a child and wounded 68 others at the wedding.
As Iran announced it targeted "American interests" after a cycle of mutual strikes between the United States and Iran, the Kuwaiti army said early Thursday via X that "Air defenses are currently intercepting missile and drone attacks by hostile forces following the odious Iranian aggression."