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Kuwait hit in retaliation
Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday as part of its retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week, with sirens sounding in Kuwait early Thursday as air defenses intercepted missiles and drones.
“Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday as part of its retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week.”
The Defense Ministry said the interceptions were during a “blatant Iranian aggression,” and it described the strikes as coming after U.S. allies Bahrain and Jordan said their air defense systems intercepted several Iranian air attacks Wednesday.
The fighting between the U.S. and Iran has increased this week after the U.S. hit Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, saying Iran was planning to use them to shoot mines into the waterway.
Spectrum News also said Iran state media reported that U.S. strikes on Tuesday killed one navy and two air force pilots, and that it reported three other members of the navy were killed during the attacks.
The New Indian Express framed the same Kuwait strikes as Iran attacking U.S. military bases “despite President Donald Trump threatening further strikes.”
Rhetoric and competing claims
In Kuwait, the Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted missiles and drones during a “blatant Iranian aggression,” while Spectrum News reported that Iran state media said one of the U.S. strikes hit a wedding party, leaving at least four people dead and dozens wounded.
Spectrum News added that the U.S. Central Command said Tuesday’s strikes focused on Iranian military targets, including air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets.
The New Indian Express quoted Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf lashing out at Washington over the wedding attack, calling the United States “Satan,” and it also said Trump warned Tehran that if Iran retaliates “they’ll be hit much harder.”
Al Jazeera said the U.S. and Iran exchanged a new round of attacks, describing it as “the biggest in more than a month,” and it reported that Iran accused the U.S. of hitting a wedding party in Kuhestak, killing at least four people.
Al Jazeera also reported that Jordanian armed forces said air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 10 of 13 Iranian ballistic missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace earlier, with the remaining three falling in remote areas without causing casualties.
Bases targeted across region
Iran’s retaliation expanded beyond Kuwait, with Spectrum News reporting that U.S. allies Bahrain and Jordan said their air defense systems intercepted several Iranian air attacks Wednesday and that fighting has increased after U.S. strikes on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran’s military said it launched attacks on US bases and assets in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq’s Erbil.”
The New Indian Express said Tehran retaliated by hitting U.S. military targets across West Asia, including in Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, and it described Iran as maintaining a “stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz oil export route.”
Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s military said it launched attacks on U.S. bases and assets in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq’s Erbil, and it said the IRGC carried out a combined missile and drone attack on U.S. facilities in Erbil province in northern Iraq.
Al Jazeera also said Iran claimed it hit the Sheikh Isa Airbase in Bahrain and that it launched a “heavy” ballistic missile attack on Prince Hassan airbase and a U.S. Marine base in Jordan.
In parallel, Spectrum News said Iran state media reported that a total of 108 people were wounded in the latest round of attacks, quoting the country’s health minister as saying, and it said Iranian state media also claimed one U.S. strike hit a wedding party in Iran.