Kuwait announced today, Wednesday, the reduction of the number of members of its Iranian embassy, and decided to expel two of them, in protest against “continuous Iranian attacks,” reiterating its refusal to use its lands and airspace to attack other countries.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a statement, that it summoned the Acting Chargé d’Affairs at the Iranian Embassy, Hamid Hamid Yaqoubi Far, and handed him an official memorandum of protest regarding the “continuing Iranian attacks” and a decision to reduce the number of members of the Iranian diplomatic mission in the country.
She explained that she informed him that two members of the Iranian diplomatic mission were considered undesirable (without identifying them), and requested that they leave the territory of the State of Kuwait within a maximum period of 24 hours.
In the same context, Kuwait renewed its refusal to use its lands and airspace to attack other countries, describing Iranian accusations as “false.”
In the statement, it stressed “the State of Kuwait’s categorical rejection of the use of its lands or airspace in any hostile actions against any country,” considering that “the false Iranian allegations are baseless and not based on any evidence.”
She added, “The repetition of these allegations cannot in any way justify the attacks that targeted the lands of the State of Kuwait and its civilian and vital installations.”
One dead and one wounded
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced that one person was killed and 63 others injured, in addition to severe damage to vital installations and diplomatic missions, as a result of an Iranian attack that targeted Kuwait International Airport.
Earlier, the General Administration of Civil Aviation in Kuwait reported that the airport’s passenger building was attacked by drones and missiles, resulting in injuries and extensive damage to a number of its facilities, confirming that the emergency plan was activated immediately after the attack occurred.
The authority added that the authorities decided to suspend all flights and transfer a number of them to alternative airports until further notice, as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of travelers and workers.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the country will not accept or tolerate the repetition of such Iranian attacks.
For its part, the Kuwaiti army said that it detected and dealt with 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones, and added that sirens sounded 5 times today due to the Iranian attacks.
The Kuwaiti army also reported that the Iranian attacks led to the death of a person of Indian nationality and the injury of a number of Kuwaiti citizens and residents of different nationalities.
The US Central Command (Centcom) announced at dawn on Wednesday that it had succeeded in confronting a wave of multiple Iranian attacks targeting countries in the region, stressing that Iranian ballistic missiles and drones had failed to hit their targets.
The US command stated that it carried out precise strikes targeting an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island, in response to the attacks attributed to Tehran.
In details, Centcom indicated that two Iranian missiles launched towards Kuwait fell or disintegrated before reaching their targets, and that American and Bahraini air defenses were also able to intercept three missiles launched towards Bahrain immediately.
It also announced the downing of three suicide drones that were targeting civilian sailors while they were legitimately crossing territorial waters, confirming that no casualties were recorded among the American forces as a result of these attacks.
In a later statement, the American command confirmed that an additional wave of Iranian drones attempted to target its forces in Kuwait, but they also failed to achieve their goals, noting that the American air defenses succeeded in shooting down a number of them without causing human or material damage.
Iran responds
On the other hand, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it targeted an “American base in the region,” in addition to the American Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, with missiles and drones, in response to the United States’ “attack” on a communications tower on Qeshm Island, which was denied by the Centcom leadership.
The Revolutionary Guard said in a statement, “We previously warned that our response would be different if we were subjected to aggression, and our response should be an example to the enemy,” noting that yesterday, Tuesday, the US army targeted an Iranian oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, causing damage to the engine room.
On the other hand, the Revolutionary Guard announced that it targeted the “Panaya” ship belonging to the “Zionist-American enemy,” in response to targeting the Iranian oil tanker, and “violating the Hormuz transit rules,” according to the statement.
The statement threatened the American forces, warning that “destabilizing the security of the Strait will cost the aggressor American army a heavy price.”
Kuwait and Bahrain: We responded to attacks
In this context, the Kuwaiti army announced today, Wednesday, that its air defenses responded to “hostile attacks” with missiles and drones, without specifying their source. While the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain announced that sirens had been sounded, it urged citizens and residents to “remain calm and go to the nearest safe place.”
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Kuwait reported that sirens were sounded simultaneously with the sounds of explosions resulting from interceptor missiles.
The army explained in a post on the X platform that any explosion sounds heard were the result of interception operations.
Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense spokesman Colonel Saud Al-Atwan called on “not to approach or touch any debris, fragments, or unknown objects that may result from operations to intercept hostile air targets.”
As for Bahrain, local media reported that air defense systems “intercept and destroy Iranian missiles and drones” in the sky of the kingdom.
Kuwait…the third attack in less than a week
This is the third targeting of Kuwait in less than a week, as the army announced last Monday and Thursday that it had confronted attacks with “hostile” missiles and drones, the source of which was not mentioned.
Yesterday, Tuesday, the Kuwaiti Cabinet renewed its condemnation of the Iranian attacks that targeted the country on Monday and Thursday, while reserving the right to take appropriate action to maintain security.
The Council called on Iran to immediately and unconditionally stop these attacks, and held it fully responsible for them.
On Monday, Kuwait accused Iran of launching new attacks on it, warning that these targets undermine efforts to reduce tension.
Many Arab countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, rejected the renewed Iranian attacks on Kuwait, considering this an unacceptable escalation and an undermining of current stability efforts in the region.
Last Monday, US Central Command (Centcom) announced that its forces intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles that were targeting US forces stationed in Kuwait.
Centcom said on the X platform that “the two missiles were shot down immediately, and no member of the American forces was harmed.”
On Sunday, an American official revealed that a number of American soldiers and civilian contractors were injured as a result of an Iranian missile attack on the Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait, last Wednesday.
The official said in a statement to ABC that the number of soldiers who were injured as a result of the intercepted attack was “unclear,” describing the injuries as “minor.”
