Kuwaiti officials said on Wednesday that at least one person was killed and 63 injured by an Iranian missile and drone attack on the Kuwait International Airport.
Kuwait denounced the attack as a violation of its sovereignty and international law, but its only retaliatory action has been expelling two Iranian diplomats and ordering a staff reduction at the Iranian embassy.
Eyewitness videos posted online showed substantial damage to the civilian airport from the attack, including fires, rubble strewn across the ground, and people fleeing through clouds of smoke:
U.S. Central Command said an “additional wave of Iranian drones attempting to attack U.S. forces in Kuwait failed to impact intended targets” on Tuesday night, as “air defenses successfully downed multiple drones and ensured no American personnel or assets were harmed.”
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned the “brutal and ongoing Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones,” which targeted “civilian and vital facilities, including Kuwaiti International Airport, resulting in the death of one individual, injuries to others, and damage to vital facilities, including diplomatic missions.”
“The Ministry stresses that the security of the State of Kuwait, its sovereignty, and the safety of its citizens and residents on its territory are a red line that cannot be crossed,” the statement said.
As with other Gulf Arab states attacked by Iran since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury in February, Kuwait said it “reserves its full and inherent right to take appropriate measures in response to these sinful and repeated Iranian aggressions, in accordance with international law.”
On Wednesday morning, Kuwait summoned the charge d’affairs for the Iranian embassy, ordered a reduction in its diplomatic staff, and gave two Iranian diplomats 24 hours to leave the country.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamad Sulaiman al-Mahsaan also dismissed Iran’s justifications for attacking Kuwait as “baseless” and repeated that his country reserves the right to defend itself against further attacks.
A spokesman for the Kuwaiti health ministry said hospitals have been on “full emergency footing” since the Iranian attack, with seven major surgeries on victims completed as of Wednesday morning.
Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement on Wednesday that said the attack on Kuwait was launched in response to the United States disabling an Iranian oil tanker that attempted to violate the U.S. blockade, and the U.S. targeting an IRGC communications tower on Qeshm Island.
The IRGC said its retaliatory actions included strikes against the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, and “missile and drone strikes against a US air and helicopter base located in a regional country,” which might have been a reference to the bombing of Kuwait.
“The enemy is inevitably forced to accept the new rules of engagement that the Iranian nation and its Armed Forces have imposed on the battlefield,” the IRGC said in a statement on Wednesday, which marked the 37th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder and first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.
“Any external military action will be met with a decisive, expanded counter-response,” the statement threatened.
CENTCOM on Tuesday dismissed the IRGC’s claim of attacking 5th Fleet headquarters and U.S. airbases as “false,” and reiterated that “all Iranian attacks on American forces failed.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday accusing the United States of violating both its tenuous ceasefire agreement with Iran and international law, which supposedly justified Iran’s wanton attacks on its neighbors.
The statement accused the governments of Kuwait and Bahrain of having “direct and explicit responsibility” for the actions of the United States, because they granted U.S. forces “colonial use” of their territory to conduct operations against Iran.
“Any country that allows its land, airspace, waters, or military facilities to be used in support of aggression against Iran is violating fundamental principles of international law and good neighborliness,” the statement raged.
The general staff of the Iranian Armed Forces on Wednesday said the United States and Israel have “no option but to surrender in the face of the Iranian nation’s determination and military strength.”
The Iranian military statement “stressed that Iran would not retreat in the face of threats or military pressure.”