An Iranian drone attack on a passenger terminal at Kuwait’s international airport killed one person and injured 63 more this Wednesday (3), Kuwaiti authorities reported, at a time when the Conflict between Tehran and US forces in the Gulf has intensified.
The attacks marked one of the most severe tests yet of the fragile ceasefirevalid since April 8, which had been maintained despite sporadic attacks. The pause was introduced after more than a month of war triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
The Kuwaiti military classified the attack on the airport as a act of “criminal Iranian aggression”while the Revolutionary Guard of Iran accused US forces of provoking the attacks as they targeted a tanker and a communications tower on the country’s Qeshm Island.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack“which once again targeted vital and civil infrastructures…killing one person and injuring others.” An airport source told AFP that the fatal victim was an Indian citizen who was on site.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs condemned the Iranian attackconfirming the death of a citizen of his country. “We condemn the attack on Kuwait International Airport today, in which an Indian citizen died and several of our citizens were injured“, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “We again call on the parties to cease such attacks“, he added.
Health Ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said that 25 ambulances were dispatched and 63 people were treated for injuries “including head injuries, brain hemorrhages, amputations and injuries resulting from explosions.”
O Kuwait suspended air traffic after the attack and diverted arriving planes to other destinations, but later resumed Kuwait Airways flights. The international airport was the target of several attacks during the war and had fully resumed operations only on Monday (1º).
‘It’s not normal’
Hassan Sheikh, a 40-year-old Pakistani resident of Kuwait who lives near the airport, said he heard explosions throughout the night. “For the first time, my children felt the gravity of the situation and that this was not normal“, he said.
With Bahrain also complaining of night drone attacks from Iranthe UAE moved to mobilize its Gulf neighbors in opposition to Tehran.
“In the face of Iran’s repeated aggression against… Kuwait and Bahrain, a firm, unified and cohesive Gulf stance is imperative,” UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash posted on social media. “This aggression is not just aimed at one country, it is aimed at all of us.”
A Iran’s Revolutionary Guard did not claim responsibility for the airport attack civil, but accused Kuwait and Bahrain of enabling US attacks from their territories and declared that the target had been a different location, “Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, which houses helicopters.”
Military advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Mohsen Rezaei said: “Every shot fired and every attack will be met with a deluge of missiles and drones… the aggressor will be punished quickly“.
‘Broken in half’
Earlier, the US military said it had “successfully defeated” a series of Iranian missile and drone attacks against Kuwait and Bahrain, and confirmed that they carried out attacks on the Island of Qeshm, in Iran.
“Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short of their target or broke in half en route, and three missiles fired at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by US and Bahraini air defense forces,” reported Centcom (US Central Command).
Bahraini authorities said they intercepted three Iranian missiles and several drones.
The escalation occurred after US, Israeli and Lebanese officials meet in Washington for direct negotiations on ending the parallel conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the militant group was the only impediment for an agreement.
The Lebanese embassy in Washington said the deal would initially cover only Israeli attacks on Beirut and Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory, before expanding its scope.
Israel has been fighting Hezbollah since the group dragged Lebanon into the widening Middle East war by attacking Israel on March 2 in support of Iran.
Neither side publicly accepted the deal, and senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati told AFP in a written statement that the group “will not accept a partial ceasefire.”
Interception
Rubio said that Washington wanted the negotiations to remain independent those with Iran to end the wider war in the Middle East.
However, the Iran has repeatedly linked the two conflicts and said on Monday that the campaign in Israel’s expansion into Lebanon risked ending the ceasefire between the US and Iranwhich had been in effect since April 8.
In recent days, troops Israelis carried out their deepest ground offensive in Lebanon in two decades.
Lebanon reported that an Israeli strike hit a target near Beirut on Wednesday, while a medical source told AFP that six people were killed as Israel bombed the south of the country.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it intercepted a “hostile aircraft” that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, the first such infiltration reported by the military in more than 24 hours.
Israeli officials have warned that the military will attack Beirut’s southern suburbs if Hezbollah launches projectiles at Israeli communities in the north, a stance they say has Washington’s support.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for any attacks in northern Israel.
*with information from AFP
