Iranian strikes hit Kuwait airport, target US Fifth Fleet
The US military fired a Hellfire missile at a commercial tanker heading toward Iran yesterday
Hostilities in the Gulf flared anew today (3 May) as an Iranian drone and missile attack struck the Terminal 1 (T1) building at Kuwait International Airport, causing injuries and severe damage.
Following the strike, Kuwait's General Civil Aviation Authority announced via the state news agency that it had suspended all flights and diverted incoming air traffic to alternative airports until further notice.
The escalation marks a sharp deterioration in regional security, occurring just a week after both sides had signalled a potential pause in the conflict, reports Reuters.
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The aerial assault on Kuwait was part of a broader wave of regional strikes launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps.
According to Iranian state media, the corps targeted the US Fifth Fleet headquarters located in Bahrain, alongside an airbase and helicopters in an unspecified regional country, utilising a combination of missiles and drones.
However, US Central Command stated that three missiles heading toward Bahrain were successfully intercepted, asserting in a post on the social media platform X that all Iranian attacks on American forces had failed.
In response to the attempted strikes, the US military also downed Iranian drones targeting civilian ships in regional waters as well as US forces stationed in Kuwait, and subsequently carried out retaliatory strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz.
Concurrently, intense maritime enforcement continues to disrupt regional shipping lanes.
As part of a blockade being imposed by the Trump administration, the US military fired a Hellfire missile at a commercial tanker heading toward Iran yesterday.
US CENTCOM posted a video demonstrating the missile strike against the vessel, identified as the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie, noting that the attack successfully targeted and disabled the ship's engine room.
The M/T Lexie marks the sixth vessel that the US military has disabled since it initiated its naval blockade of Iran on 13 April.
Since the wider conflict initially broke out in late February, Iran has repeatedly launched targeted attacks against various installations across the Gulf region where US military bases are situated.
Although both Iran and the US stated last week that they had reached a tentative initial agreement to halt the war, the two sides have yet to officially sign off on the deal.
