Kuwait’s military said Saturday it was responding to a fresh round of Iranian drone attacks that struck “a number of vital facilities,” including a government structure in the country’s north, while President Donald Trump threatened further U.S. strikes and Washington pressed for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Maj. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, spokesman for Kuwait’s Defense Ministry, said the drones hit vital facilities and that there were no casualties. The attack unfolded as the U.S. State Department issued new security alerts for Americans in 10 countries across the region, covering Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, urging citizens to prepare for flight cancellations, temporary airspace closures and other travel disruptions.
The British navy said Saturday that a tanker was struck and a separate explosion hit close to a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said an unknown projectile struck a vessel on Friday 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman, damaging its engine room, and that a large splash and an explosion were reported near another tanker on Saturday 21 nautical miles northwest of Khasab. No casualties were reported in either incident. Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels attempting to transit the strait without its authorization as part of its conflict with the United States.
Speaking to reporters Friday at Camp David after a meeting with his Cabinet, Trump said “we just want to win” in Iran and signaled that U.S. military action would continue. “We will hit them very hard until they can’t take it anymore,” he said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding on a truce last month but then “broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers.” She added: “Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way.”
The exchange extends a confrontation now in its sixth month, with Washington striking Iranian targets after Tehran attacked U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain and fired on shipping. U.S. and Israeli officials have also been reported to be weighing strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure. Analysts warn that repeated attacks on tankers and Gulf states are straining regional security and threatening global energy supply chains, with shipping insurers raising war-risk premiums for vessels in the region.
Elsewhere, Houthi rebels forced eight Saudi ships to reroute from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after announcing a blockade on Saudi shipping through the chokepoint. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, said the vessels changed course toward the Cape of Good Hope, adding to the pressure on commercial traffic around the Arabian Peninsula.
With both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb under threat, oil markets remain volatile. Kuwait, which hosts U.S. forces, has repeatedly found itself on the front line of the widening confrontation, and Saturday’s drone attacks underlined how far the fighting has spread beyond Iran’s borders.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, CBS News, CNBC.
Author: Middle East Desk
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