Kuwaiti officials said Terminal 1 at Kuwait International Airport was struck during a wider regional escalation involving Iran, U.S. forces and Gulf military sites.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Kuwait International Airport was struck Wednesday in an Iranian missile and drone attack that killed one person, injured 63 others and forced civil aviation officials to suspend traffic as the conflict between the United States and Iran widened across the Gulf.
Kuwait’s health ministry said several victims were seriously wounded after Terminal 1 was hit. The strike damaged airport facilities, including diplomatic mission areas, and hospitals in the region performed seven major emergency surgeries after the attack, according to authorities.
The casualty count was reported by Xinhua. Kuwaiti defense ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan described the strike as “criminal Iranian aggression which resulted in significant material damage to the building and injuries.” Kuwaiti officials said air defenses engaged a total of 13 missiles and 17 drones launched from Iran.
Civil aviation authorities activated an emergency plan, halted airport traffic and redirected incoming flights to unaffected airports after Terminal 1 came under attack.
The airport strike occurred after overnight exchanges between U.S. and Iranian forces turned what initially appeared to be limited incidents into a broader military confrontation. U.S. forces disabled a Botswana-flagged, unladen oil tanker on June 2 after it allegedly attempted to sail toward an Iranian port on the Arabian Gulf. CENTCOM said a U.S. aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, preventing it from reaching Iran.
After the tanker incident, American forces said they intercepted Iranian reprisal attacks and conducted strikes on Iranian military sites on Qeshm Island. Explosions were reported near the island Wednesday morning.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said the U.S. attack on Qeshm Island prompted Iranian missile strikes on U.S. bases in Kuwait. The IRGC also claimed its Aerospace Force attacked the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain with missiles and drones and targeted a U.S.-affiliated vessel named Panaya. CENTCOM denied that Iran successfully hit the Fifth Fleet headquarters, a U.S. airbase or U.S. forces in the region.
Images and video described as showing damage and chaos at Kuwait International Airport circulated in a social media post.
The Gulf Cooperation Council condemned Iran over what it called “ongoing aggression” against Bahrain and Kuwait. The council denounced the strikes as “cowardly attacks on civilian objects” and said they represented a “dangerous and unprecedented escalation.”
Iran issued its own warnings after the strikes. Citing state media, Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its retaliatory attacks “should serve as a lesson” for the United States after Iran fired missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the U.S. attacks on the Iranian tanker and Qeshm Island and said the overnight assault was a serious breach of the ceasefire. The ministry also said it “notes the direct and clear responsibility of the rulers of Kuwait and Bahrain for last night’s aggressive acts.”
President Donald Trump said communications with Iran had not stopped, saying “conversations between us have been going on continuously.” A second social media post referenced the continuing developments.
U.S. officials said Trump is seeking firmer written nuclear commitments from Iran, according to ABC News. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran had mined large portions of the Strait of Hormuz and that nuclear negotiations remained highly complicated and technical. Rubio said the war had made interactions with Tehran more difficult, while also saying the “war in Iran is over.”
Across the region, air defenses and warning systems were activated as reports of strikes and explosions spread. Kuwait’s army said it was intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks. Reports said two U.S. bases in Kuwait, Ali al-Salem and Arifjan, were targeted, with explosions reported at sites where U.S. troops are stationed. Air raid sirens sounded in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, while explosions were also reported in Saudi Arabia.
Additional blasts were heard in Qamishli, Syria. Earlier reports said multiple explosions struck central Iraqi Kurdistan, where headquarters of anti-Iranian separatist groups were targeted.
CENTCOM said Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward neighboring countries and that U.S. forces successfully defeated multiple Iranian missiles. It also said U.S. forces shot down three one-way attack drones launched by Iran toward civilian mariners lawfully transiting regional waters. U.S. forces also carried out self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island, according to CENTCOM.
Iranian officials and military figures signaled the confrontation could intensify. The IRGC warned that any further U.S. aggression would draw a “seismic, crushing and decisive response.” A hardline Iranian lawmaker also called for a stronger military response to U.S. strikes, according to Al Jazeera.
The violence extended beyond Kuwait and Bahrain. Hezbollah attacked an Israeli command post in southern Lebanon with a drone strike that wounded eight Israeli soldiers, according to SNN.
The attack on Kuwait International Airport marks one of the most serious strikes on Gulf civilian infrastructure since the latest escalation began. It also places Kuwait and Bahrain at the center of a widening confrontation involving U.S. forces, Iran, Gulf states and allied groups across the region.
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