Kuwait reports missile, drone attack as Iran ceasefire strain escalates

Kuwait said it faced a missile and drone attack Thursday as the shaky ceasefire in the Iran war was again challenged after the United States conducted strikes targeting Iran and Tehran said it responded with an attack of its own.

Kuwait's military made the announcement, without providing further details on what had been targeted.

Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq during the war. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The announcement by Kuwait's military comes as West Asia remains on the edge over the ceasefire and ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington which as of yet have not reopened the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed.

Its closure has sparked a global energy shortage that experts warn only will intensify in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the US is trying to get Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium while the Islamic Republic seeks the lifting of economic sanctions and the release of frozen assets to aid its shattered economy.

Earlier Thursday morning, US officials said that US Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz, according to US officials who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The US military also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone, the officials said.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard via the state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport, a dual-use airport on the strait, and said it launched its own retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assault. It did not elaborate on the target and it wasn't clear whether the attack on Kuwait was directly related.