As the Trump administration remains engaged in talks aimed at finalizing a deal with Tehran, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a wave of missile and drone strikes against Kuwait.
Kuwait’s air defense systems intercepted most of the projectiles, including a ballistic missile, the U.S. Military confirmed. “Kuwait’s army said on Thursday that its air defences were intercepting hostile missile and drone threats, but did not say where they were coming from,” Reuters reported. “The army said any sounds of explosions heard in the country were the result of air-defence systems intercepting the threats, and urged people to follow security and safety instructions issued by authorities.”
The Iranian attack comes amid repeated attempts by the IRGC to threaten U.S. forces operating in and around the Strait of Hormuz, threatening the seven-week-old ceasefire. “The fresh fighting appeared to begin on Thursday when Iranian forces fired at four ships attempting to cross the strait, state broadcaster IRIB reported,” The Telegraph (UK) reported. “The clashes, the most serious since an April ceasefire began, throw into question talks aimed at ending the war that began on February 28.”
The U.S. Central Command described the Iranian attack on a neighbouring Arab state as “egregious ceasefire violation, and vowed to defend American “forces and interests from unjustified Iranian aggression.” The CENTCOM noted that the IRGC attack “occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz.”
On Monday, the U.S. military destroyed Iranian naval boats attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Missile launch sites along Iran’s southern coast were also targeted.
The IRGC admitted it launched the strikes on Kuwait, claiming it was targeting a U.S. airbase. “Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard via the state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport and said it launched its own retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assault,” the Associated Press reported.
Iran is escalating the conflict as President Donald Trump suggested that the U.S. was prepared to resume the military operation if the regime refuses to accept his proposal. “They’re negotiating on fumes,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “Maybe we have to go back and finish it, maybe we don’t.”
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