Kuwait City (TDI): An Iranian drone and missile attack struck Kuwait International Airport on Wednesday morning, injuring passengers, damaging terminal facilities, and forcing the suspension and diversion of flights.
Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA reported that the airport’s T1 building was hit, prompting the General Civil Aviation Authority to divert flights to alternative locations.
The strike came hours after the United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it struck an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island, located in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, adding that no US personnel were injured.
In response, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had struck US military installations in Bahrain and an airbase in the region in retaliation for the Qeshm Island strike.
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CENTCOM denied it, adding that two missiles aimed at Kuwait fell short and three fired at Bahrain were intercepted by US and Bahraini air defense forces.
“Iran launched several ballistic missiles towards regional neighbors; however, all failed to hit their intended targets,” CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM also said a further wave of Iranian drones targeting US forces in Kuwait was defeated, with several shot down, and that three additional drones launched at civilian ships in regional waters were also neutralized.
The flare-up is the latest in a conflict now entering its fourth month, while a ceasefire has been nominally in place between the US and Iran since April 8.
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Subsequent negotiations aimed at a permanent settlement have so far failed to produce a signed agreement. Last week, both sides indicated they had reached a tentative initial deal, but it has not been formalized.
US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social insisting that talks with Iran have not ended, pushing back against reports that negotiations had stalled, while Iranian media reported that Tehran has not communicated with Washington for several days.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tehran noted that Iranian officials have framed the latest strikes as a response to what they describe as US aggression against an Iranian oil tanker and IRGC communication facilities on Qeshm Island, with a senior parliamentary official declaring that “the United States understands the language of missiles better than the language of diplomacy.”
Meanwhile Israel’s intensifying campaign in Lebanon has further complicated the fragile ceasefire, with Tehran warning that Israeli attacks risk unravelling the US-Iran agreement entirely. Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed five people, including a child, and wounded dozens more.
