The United States and Iran traded strikes overnight in one of the most intense bouts of conflict since the increasingly tenuous ceasefire between the two countries began in April. U.S. forces targeted Qeshm Island and Iran fired missiles and drones at Bahrain and Kuwait, killing one person and causing significant damage to Kuwait International Airport, which suspended flights after the attack.
The U.S. carried out “self-defense strikes” on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday, describing them as a response to Iran launching ballistic missiles against Kuwait and Bahrain.
Centcom said the Iranian strikes failed to hit their intended targets, with two missiles fired at Kuwait falling short or breaking apart en route, while three launched at Bahrain were intercepted by air defenses. A wave of Iranian drones attempted to target U.S. forces in Kuwait, Centcom said, but no U.S. personnel were harmed.
Iranian drones did strike Kuwait International Airport early Wednesday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, in a barrage that killed one person and damaged other “vital facilities, including diplomatic missions.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned the attack in a statement, saying the person killed at the airport was an Indian national and that several other Indian nationals were hurt.
Kuwait’s Health Ministry said 63 people had been injured.
Kuwait’s official news agency reported Wednesday that the Civil Aviation Agency suspended and rerouted flights from Terminal 1 after the attack, which came just two days after international flights had resumed there. The airport had suspended traffic Feb. 28 to repair damage from Iranian attacks and had been working on a phased reopening. Some traffic resumed later Wednesday from Terminal 4.
Video and images on social media show fires burning inside the airport with parts of the roof structure collapsed as smoke and debris fill the area.
Bahrain’s Defense Force said Wednesday that its air defense systems intercepted three missiles and several drones after Iran targeted civilian infrastructure but did not report any deaths or injuries. Neighboring Persian Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates denounced the attacks.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. strikes in a statement Wednesday, saying authorities in Kuwait and Bahrain bore “direct and clear responsibility” for the attacks against them, having allowed the U.S. to use their territory in the war against Iran. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will utilize all available capacities to defend its territorial integrity and national sovereignty, including by targeting the origin and sources of aggressive attacks,” it said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and an American air base in an unnamed location after an Iranian oil tanker was struck near the Strait of Hormuz in a statement reported by Iran’s semiofficial media outlet, Fars.
“In response to this assault, their air and helicopter base stationed in one of the countries of the region, as well as the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, were subjected to missile and drone attacks by the IRGC Aerospace Force,” the IRGC statement said.
Earlier Tuesday, Centcom said it had fired a missile striking the engine room of a Botswana-flagged Tanker, Lexie, headed toward Kharg Island after it ignored warnings to comply with a U.S. blockade. “A U.S. aircraft ultimately disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, preventing the tanker from reaching Iran,” Centcom said.
U.S. forces also shot down Iranian attack drones launched toward civilian mariners, Centcom said, adding that no U.S. personnel were harmed.
The escalation in hostilities comes as talks to end the war between the U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked and tit-for-tat clashes and aggressive military action in Lebanon threaten to collapse negotiations.
Tehran suspended peace talks with the U.S. on Monday after Israel intensified attacks in Lebanon, according to state media reports and an Iranian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press.
President Donald Trump said in a podcast released Wednesday the situation with Iran was “rapidly evolving” and predicted it would be a “big success” for the U.S., adding that he would like to meet Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed as the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. “We probably will meet at some point depending on how it all works out,” he told Miranda Devine’s “Pod Force One” in an interview recorded a day earlier.
The Trump administration has demanded in peace talks that Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and commit to future negotiations on curbing its nuclear program before Washington will ease financial sanctions or end its blockade of Iranian ports, requirements that Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined Tuesday while testifying to Congress.
Iran has called for the unfreezing of billions in assets and the lifting of the U.S. blockade in the first phase of a deal, after which it would support mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Its right to enrich uranium remains a key sticking point: The U.S. insists that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Iran demands to be allowed to continue enrichment for peaceful purposes.
Siham Shamalakh contributed to this report.
The post Iranian attack leaves 1 dead, dozens injured in Kuwait appeared first on Washington Post.
