Iran has seemingly engaged in a series of escalating “tit-for-tat” attacks in the region. The latest attacks in Kuwait have raised concerns that Iran has deemed that it can attack wherever it wants.
Iran, however, said that it is merely retaliating for US attacks. This time, Iran has claimed that “the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced that the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet was targeted in a missile and drone operation carried out by the IRGC Aerospace Force.”
Iran claims this was “conducted in response to a series of US military attacks.” Apparently, the US struck an Iranian oil tanker to prevent the ship from traversing the Strait of Hormuz. “In retaliation, the IRGC said its naval forces launched missiles at a vessel identified as MSC Panaya, which it described as being affiliated with US and Israeli interests.”
Notably, Iran then carried out more attacks.
The US struck a communications tower in the southern part of Iran’s Qeshm Island. “In response, Iran launched missile and drone strikes against a US air and helicopter base located in a regional country, as well as the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet,” Iran’s IRNA state media said.
Iran is escalating in its reactions and has also attacked Kuwait. “Kuwait, on Wednesday, said Iranian attacks on its territory killed one person and wounded several others, [and are] forcing its airport to close and damaging unnamed diplomatic missions,” Arab News noted.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks “that once again targeted vital and civilian infrastructure, including the Kuwait International Airport, killing one person and injuring others, in addition to causing damage to vital infrastructure, including diplomatic missions.”
Following the attacks, Kuwait has had to move flights to Terminal 4. Part of another terminal was damaged. “The [Kuwait Foreign] Ministry said that the strikes caused damage to critical infrastructure and strongly denounced the escalation.”
Iran has said that the US “disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the US military.” The IRGC is seemingly leading the attacks while Iran’s army takes a backseat. Iran’s navy and air force were largely destroyed by the US-Israeli attacks in February and March.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have responded to the latest round of attacks, and they have made it clear that they want to avoid escalation. Kuwait, which has historically tried to remain neutral in Iranian tensions, has now become a frontline. In fact, Kuwait shares a border with Iran and is vulnerable to attack.
UAE condemns Iran's attacks on neighbors
The UAE Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash called for the Gulf to be united in condemning the latest round of Iranian escalation. “In light of the repeated Iranian aggression against the sisterly state of Kuwait and the Kingdom of Bahrain, there must be a firm, unified, and cohesive Gulf stance,” Gargash wrote on X/Twitter. “No Gulf state should be left to face the targeting alone, as the security of the Arab Gulf states is interconnected. Their interests are shared, and their fate is one.”
Kuwait’s Al-Jarida media has also responded with a series of articles. It notes that the General Authority of Civil Aviation announced on Wednesday that “the resumption of all Kuwait Airways flights [is] only from the Kuwait International Airport via passenger terminal T4, after the technical teams and competent authorities completed assessing the damages and taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of operational processes.”
Terminal 1 was damaged in the Iranian attacks. This resulted in serious damage, the report said.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed Kuwait’s condemnation and denunciation in the strongest terms of the “brutal and continuous Iranian attacks with ballistic missiles and drones.”
The ministry went on to stress “that the security, sovereignty, and safety of the state of Kuwait and its citizens and residents are a red line that cannot be crossed, emphasizing that the repetition of these attacks represents an organized, aggressive approach, which is something that the state of Kuwait will not accept or tolerate.
The ministry affirmed that the state of Kuwait reserves its full and inherent right to take appropriate measures to respond to these heinous and repeated Iranian attacks, in accordance with international law.”
Iran's attacks raise stakes in the Gulf
Iran’s attacks have raised the stakes in the Gulf. Iran is showing that it will continue to up the ante every time it responds to US strikes. Iran has also shown that it will not back down. This falls in line with Iran’s desire to demonstrate that it can sow chaos and conflict across a long frontline, which stretches from Lebanon to Iraq, Kuwait, the Gulf, and the Red Sea.
The question is: will this become the new status quo, or will the US and Iran secure a deal?