“Self defense” strikes were launched by U.S. military assets across the Persian Gulf overnight into Wednesday morning, with a host of ballistic missiles and drones fired at ships and Gulf countries by Iran obliterated in the process.
The targeted strikes on Qeshm Island, in the beleaguered Strait of Hormuz, were “in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East”, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said.
The BBC reports Centcom said Iran had fired two missiles at Kuwait and three at Bahrain, all of which broke apart or were intercepted. Iran claimed it had attacked successfully U.S. bases and helicopters in a “regional country” using missiles and drones in retaliation but offered no evidence to support the allegation.
The exchange of fire is just the latest in a growing list of “back and forth” exchanges between Iran and the U.S. in the disputed waterway as peace talks go on, as Breitbart News reported.
AP reports Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said at least one person was killed and others wounded in a strike on the country’s main airport.
It said Kuwait reserves the right to respond to Iran and will “neither accept nor tolerate” the attacks.
Earlier, Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi confirmed “a number of hostile drones” had targeted a passenger building at Kuwait International Airport.