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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal at Kuwait's main airport Wednesday, killing one person, wounding
dozens, and briefly closing the airfield — the latest in back-and-forth attacks by Iran and the U.S. that test a fragile ceasefire. The strike reinforced the risks to residents and travelers in Gulf countries that had considered themselves relative havens before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Iran denied causing the damage.
Talks have dragged on for weeks as mediators seek a more enduring truce in the war, now in its fourth month. They are increasingly strained by Israel’s broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.A regional official said Iran wanted a separate ceasefire in Lebanon enforced before returning to talks. President Donald Trump stated that negotiations continue to extend the Iran ceasefire, even as the U.S. launched strikes against military sites on an Iranian island.
“We’ve been hitting them pretty hard,” Trump said when asked by reporters on Wednesday if the ceasefire remains in place. “I’d say in that part of the world a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”
The fighting in Lebanon has exposed a rift between Israel and the U.S., which is pushing its ally for restraint. In a measure of the friction, Trump acknowledged that he'd called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” during a phone call earlier this week. Nonetheless, both men say their rapport is solid.
Iran maintains its hold on the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial waterway for the world’s oil and natural gas and related products like fertilizer — and the U.S. continues its blockade of Iranian ports. Global fuel prices remain high, and the effects of the conflict are felt well beyond the region.
In Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he, Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio huddled for three hours at the White House Monday as Trump worked on “that final piece” of getting commerce flowing. Rubio, meanwhile, faced grilling in Congress over the war and its economic fallout.
A spokesperson for Kuwait's Defense Ministry, Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, said “a number of hostile drones” targeted a passenger building at Kuwait International Airport. It had opened only Monday after a monthslong closure because of the war, which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed it didn't fire at the airport, instead alleging without providing any evidence that the terminal was damaged by a U.S.-made interceptor that failed to hit Iranian missiles. U.S. Central Command called the claim false and stated on X that Iranian drones made a “deliberate, calculated and unjustified attack” on the airport.
Surveillance footage released by Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation showed the moment of impact from several angles. In the footage, what appears to be a triangle-shaped, delta-wing drone slams directly into the terminal. Iran has long used such drones in combat, particularly its Shahed drones, which are also used by Russia in its war on Ukraine.
Another photograph from the scene showed a Kuwaiti soldier carrying what appeared to be a small aircraft engine consistent with those used by Iranian drones.
India’s Embassy in Kuwait confirmed that the individual killed was an Indian national. Authorities reported that 63 were wounded, including passengers and workers, with some suffering serious injuries.
Kuwait's Defense Ministry stated it destroyed over a dozen missiles and a similar number of drones from Iran.
The airport partially reopened later, with Kuwait Airways flights resuming at a different terminal, according to civil aviation authorities. No other flights were operating.
The Foreign Ministry indicated that Kuwait will “neither accept nor tolerate” the attacks and announced the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats. Such expulsions serve as a means of communicating international ire.
The U.S. military reported that two Iranian missiles fell apart en route to Kuwait and that it “downed multiple drones” targeting American forces in the country.
The military also noted that U.S. and Bahraini forces intercepted missiles aimed at the Gulf kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet. Bahrain’s Defense Ministry confirmed its military intercepted and destroyed three missiles and several drones fired by Iran.
The Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that it targeted the headquarters of the 5th Fleet and U.S. military facilities in another country.
Both the U.S. and Iran claimed they were retaliating for earlier attacks or attempted ones.
Netanyahu told the American business-news channel CNBC that Iran was “playing with fire,” but he stated any decision about whether to scale up a military response would rest with Trump. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared on X that “any hostile act will be met with an immediate, decisive response.”
The U.S. military stated it launched strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Foreign Ministry alleged that a telecommunications tower was struck and described this attack, along with others, as “acts of aggression” that violated the ceasefire.
Israeli forces have moved deeper into Lebanon than at any time in over a quarter-century, while Hezbollah has launched rocket and drone attacks. The declared ceasefire in Lebanon is officially in place, and no side has formally withdrawn or declared it over even as attacks continue.
Iran insists that any larger potential truce must quell the fighting in Lebanon. Netanyahu seeks to keep the issues separate and is under domestic pressure to strike Hezbollah as he prepares for elections this fall.
In a podcast interview released Wednesday, Trump confirmed a report that he had called Netanyahu “crazy” Monday in a phone conversation peppered with an expletive. Trump expressed that he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fight with Hezbollah was holding back talks with Iran.
Still, Trump maintained that his relationship with Netanyahu was good, and “we’ve worked very well together.”
Netanyahu responded on CNBC that he and Trump sometimes have “tactical disagreements” but share “common goals” and “agree on the main things.”
“We always find a way to work out our differences,” the prime minister stated.
