Carpenter Vision
Iranian attacks on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait
Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, responding to US attacks. Thousands of people exposed to serious danger in eastern South Sudan.
O Iran attacked today targets in Kuwait and no Bahrain in response to US attacks, despite the ceasefire, further damaging the ongoing negotiations, particularly due to the issue of frozen Iranian assets.
Since April 8, hostilities had almost ceased between the United States and Iran, but were resumes recently, particularly around the Strait of Hormuza strategic maritime route for hydrocarbons controlled by Tehran.
Kuwait and Bahrain, which had already been attacked at the beginning of the week, condemned Iran’s new “blatant aggressions”, classifying them as “a dangerous climb” and a threat to the “lives of citizens and residents”.
Such attacks “constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State”, added the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement cited by the news agency France-Presse (AFP).
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced that they had fired ballistic missiles towards the Ali Al-Salem air base, in Kuwait, where United States aircraft are stationed, and the headquarters of the American Fifth Fleet, in Bahrain.
“We were woken up by deafening explosions. The explosions were extremely noisy. My children were terrified and I couldn’t calm them down,” an Egyptian living in Kuwait told AFP.
According to the North American military Central Command (Centcom), of a total of seven missiles, “six were intercepted and a seventh did not reach the expected target”.
US forces had previously attacked Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in the city of Goruk and the island of Qeshm “in order to defend themselves against further attacks,” Centcom added.
The army further reported that Iranian drones were “launched towards the Strait of Hormuz” and represented an “immediate threat to regional maritime traffic”.
On the diplomatic front, negotiations between the two parties have made no progress in recent days.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mohsen Rezaei’s military advisor even spoke of a negotiating impasse during an interview with the North American television network CNN.
Rezaei suggested to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, that he break the impasse by unlocking 24 billion dollars (20.8 billion euros, at current prices) of Iranian funds frozen due to US sanctions.
“If we want to reach an agreement with Iran, these 24 billion dollars constitute a test of confidence (…) that the United States must overcome for the path to open,” he stated.
“It’s our own moneyit is not that of the United States”, added Rezaei.
The negotiations aim to put an end to the war triggered by the offensive that the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28.
Iran reacted with attacks against countries in the region, including Kuwait and Bahrain, and with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the hydrocarbons on the world market usually pass.
The war caused thousands of deaths, especially in Iran and Lebanon, a country that was drawn into the conflict by attacks by the Lebanese group Hezbollah against Israel in support of Tehran.
The conflict also caused increases in oil prices with global repercussions, raising fears of an economic recession and the degradation of living conditions for populations in countries with fewer resources.
Danger in Sudan
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today warned of “thousands of people” exposed to “serious danger” in eastern South Sudan due to “insecurity and increased population movements”.
In a statement, the United Nations (UN) points out that months of fighting e insecurity “forced hundreds of thousands of people to abandon yours casas, triggering one of the most serious conflict-related displacement crises in recent years.”
UNHCR reports that, since December, in Akobo County alone there are around 140,000, a total of more than 300 thousand people displaced throughout Jonglei State and neighboring states.
In the text, UNHCR recalls that they have already fled to Ethiopia, neighboring country of South Sudan, more than 100 thousand people and that this crisis “causes serious consequences human and social” for the affected communities.
“As children traumatized by the conflict and others have been separated from their families”, declared, from Juba, the UNHCR representative in South Sudan, Matthew Brook, during a United Nations press conference in Geneva, cited in the text.
In addition to population displacement and the effects of the conflict on children, the UN also cites numerous testimonies that report cases of sexual violence about women.
In recent weeks, thousands of people have returned to their homes, but security problems and enormous humanitarian needs persist, UNHCR teams on the ground have witnessed.
“Many families return home only to find that their homes have been destroyed or looted, forcing them to live crammed together in unfinished buildings and makeshift shelters made from sticks and plastic tarps,” Brook added.
According to the UN, many people have exhausted their resources after repeated journeys between South Sudan and Ethiopia in search of safety: “For some, the return to Akobo does not mean that there are ideal conditions for returning, but simply reflects the scarcity of available alternatives”, highlighted the UNHCR official.
The UN recalls that around 2.4 million South Sudanese refugees remain hosted in the region, while almost two million people remain internally displaced.
The country is also facing the consequences of guerra underway next door Sudan, with more than 1.3 million people crossing the border since April 2023, including returnees, refugees and asylum seekers.
This influx puts additional pressure on humanitarian response capacity, with the UN warning that funding remains far below needs.
Of the US$286 million requested by UNHCR, only 25% has been financed so far.
“Without immediate help, thousands of families who have fled violence risk facing the rainy season without safe shelter, without basic services and without the protection they need to survive,” warns UNHCR.
