Gulf hostilities flared again on Wednesday, with a missile attack damaging Kuwait’s airport and the US military carrying out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran showed little progress.
The latest flare-up, which sent oil prices up more than 1 per cent, comes with the conflict stalemated in a shaky ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, more than three months after initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended and diverted elsewhere until further notice, the state news agency said, citing aviation authorities, after an Iranian drone and missile attack on its T1 building.
The attack caused injuries and severely damaged some airport facilities, it added, but gave no further details.
Ministry of defence spokesman Brigadier General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan described the attack as “criminal Iranian aggression which resulted in significant material damage to the building and injuries”.
Earlier, the US Central Command said two Iranian missiles shot at Kuwait fell short or broke up in flight, while several ballistic missiles aimed at regional targets failed and three missiles heading for Bahrain were intercepted.
Since the conflict began, Iran has repeatedly attacked targets in the Gulf region home to US military bases.
Central Command said the US military also downed Iranian drones targeting civilian ships in regional waters and US forces in Kuwait, and carried out strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz following attempted attacks by Iran.
Iran’s state media said the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, as well as an airbase and helicopters in an unspecified regional country.
