Yemen03 June, 20263 min read
Iranian Drones Hit Kuwait International Airport, Killing One and Wounding Dozens
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Iranian drones hit Kuwait's main airport, killing one and injuring dozens, airfield briefly closed. Damage to a passenger terminal accompanied the strike, prompting flight suspensions.
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Kuwait airport hit
Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding dozens as the latest exchange tested a fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States. AP reported that Kuwait said the strike briefly closed the airfield, while Iran denied causing the damage and claimed the terminal was damaged by a U.S.-made interceptor that failed to hit Iranian missiles. NBC News said the attacks included an attack on Kuwait’s international airport and that the U.S. military shot down Iranian drones near the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iran’s Qeshm Island a day earlier.
“One person was killed and flights were suspended in Kuwait, officials said, after missile and drone strikes including an attack on its international airport.”
Kuwait’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed over a dozen missiles and a similar number of drones from Iran, and Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights after taking safety measures, according to AP and CBC. NBC News also said the airport damage caused significant damage to Terminal 1 at Kuwait International Airport and that all air traffic was briefly suspended as a result.
Talks and threats
President Donald Trump insisted in a taped interview that aired Wednesday that negotiations were ongoing after Iran signaled it may walk away, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there had been no progress in talks. NBC News quoted Araghchi saying, "Our communication with the Americans has not been cut off but no progress has been achieved in the negotiations," and also reported his warning that Israeli attacks in Beirut could jeopardize the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. AP reported Trump’s on-camera comments when asked by reporters on Wednesday if the ceasefire remains in place, including "We’ve been hitting them pretty hard," and it also quoted him saying, "I’d say in that part of the world a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner."
The U.S. and Iran both framed their actions as retaliation, with AP reporting that Netanyahu told CNBC that Iran was "playing with fire" and that any decision about scaling up would rest with Trump. NBC News said Araghchi warned that "The result of aggression against Beirut will be the return of war," according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.
Regional stakes
The flare-up around Kuwait and the Strait of Hormuz came as the war entered its fourth month and mediators sought a more enduring truce, with AP saying talks have dragged on for weeks. AP reported that Iran maintains its hold on the Strait of Hormuz and that the U.S. continues its blockade of Iranian ports, while CBC said the attacks sent oil prices up nearly two per cent and that the Strait remains largely closed more than three months after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. NBC News said the U.S. disabled a Botswana-flagged tanker headed toward Kharg Island by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, blocking the tanker from reaching Iran, and it added that the U.S. military has "disabled six commercial vessels and redirected 122" since a blockade against Iran’s ports was launched April 13.
CBC reported that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said they did not fire at Kuwait’s airport and blamed the destruction on U.S. interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, while the U.S. military said that was not accurate and that Iranian drones targeted the airport deliberately. NBC News also said Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon all condemned Iran’s attacks across the Gulf, underscoring how the immediate strikes threatened broader regional stability.