Overview
- A drone strike on Kuwait International Airport struck the passenger terminal and killed an Indian national while injuring dozens, causing heavy damage to Terminal 1.
- U.S. Central Command publicly said Iran carried out a deliberate drone attack on the civilian airport, calling it unjustified and calculated.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied targeting the airport and said the damage resulted from an American Patriot interceptor error, while the IRGC separately claimed earlier strikes on U.S. facilities.
- Kuwait summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires and ordered two Iranian diplomats expelled, and the United States reiterated security commitments during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s meeting with Kuwait’s foreign minister in Washington.
- Kuwait’s large U.S. military presence and a recent run of strikes on Gulf states raise the risk of further diplomatic and military escalation and keep regional civilian sites and bases vulnerable to future attacks.