Kuwait on Tuesday arrested four alleged members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and accused them of attempting to infiltrate Bubiyan Island, a Kuwaiti territory close to shipping lanes and oil fields that has a port under construction with Chinese funding.
Bubiyan is the largest island under Kuwait’s control in the northern Persian Gulf, close to the border with Iraq. It is sparsely inhabited at the moment, but will change with the completion of the Mubarak al-Kabeer Port, a massive project under construction with Chinese assistance as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The ambitious $4.1 billion port is expected to become a major hub for container ships, greatly increasing Kuwait’s trading profile and China’s economic influence on the region. The facility could also be helpful for shipping from Iraq and Iran to Red Sea trade routes.
The initial stage of construction was completed in 2014, while Kuwait hopes the port will become operational before the end of 2026. Mubarak al-Kabeer is very important to the “Kuwait 2035” project, an agenda modeled after Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Vision 2030 initiative to reduce the country’s dependence on oil for revenue.
According to the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry, on May 1 a fishing boat “specially chartered to carry out hostile actions against Kuwait” approached Bubiyan Island with six Iranians on board. Five were apparently IRGC officers, while the sixth was the captain of the chartered boat.
The IRGC is the elite theocratically-controlled wing of the Iranian military and has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government and European Union (EU). IRGC units handle most of Iran’s skullduggery in other countries, including recruiting and supplying proxy forces and destabilizing other Middle Eastern governments.
The Interior Ministry said the Iranian squad exchanged gunfire with Kuwaiti troops on Bubiyan Island. Four of the Iranians were captured, while the other two were able to escape. One Kuwaiti service member was injured during the engagement.
The Interior Ministry named the IRGC members in custody as Col. Amir Hussein abd Mohmmed Zara’i, Col. Abdulsamad Yadallah Qanwati, Capt. Ahmed Jamshid Gholam Reza Zulfiqari, and 1st Lt. Mohammed Hussein Sehrab Faroughi Rad.
The two Iranians who escaped were identified as IRGC Navy Capt. Mansour Qambari and Abdulali Kazem Siamari, the captain of the fishing boat.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned the Iranian attack as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Kuwait” and a “grave breach of international law.”
The Foreign Ministry demanded that “the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately and unconditionally cease its unlawful hostile acts that threaten the security and stability of the region and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at de-escalation.”
Kuwaiti media reported that Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) swiftly condemned the attack. The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on Tuesday to formally protest the infiltration of Bubiyan Island.
The regime in Tehran dismissed Kuwait’s accusations as “baseless,” responding with a combination of belligerent hostility and sneering disdain.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Kuwait of attempting to “sow discord” by “unlawfully attacking” an Iranian boat.
“This illegal act took place near an island used by the U.S. to attack Iran,” he claimed.
The U.S. military has a small temporary base on Bubiyan Island, where American personnel were relocated after Iran attacked their regular forward logistics base at Camp Arifjan during Operation Epic Fury. Iran claims it also attacked the Bubiyan camp with missiles and drones in April.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed Kuwait was “politically and propagandistically exploiting” its Iranian prisoners, who were supposedly “carrying out their duties as part of a routine maritime patrol mission” and were illegally detained by Kuwait after they “entered Kuwaiti territorial waters due to a malfunction in their navigation system.” Iran demanded the immediate release of the four prisoners.