Kuwaitis gather at an exhibition of military equipment as they celebrate the country’s 61st Independence Day and the 31st anniversary of the end of the Gulf war with the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, in Kuwait City, on February 25, 2022. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Yasser Al-zayyat | Afp | Getty Images
Kuwait activated its air defenses Thursday in response to what it described as “hostile missile and drone threats,” according to a post by the country’s armed forces on X.
The military did not say where the attacks originated, but added any explosion sounds heard were the result of air-defense systems intercepting incoming attacks.
The developments come as tensions in the Middle East escalated again following fresh U.S. strikes in Iran overnight.
A U.S. official told MS NOW on Wednesday that its forces had carried out new strikes targeting a military site that was believed to pose a threat to U.S. forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement posted on state news agency Tasnim, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck a U.S. air base after a U.S. attack was conducted outside Bandar Abbas airport.
“If it is repeated, our response will be more decisive,” the IRGC said.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a government agency that regulates transit through the Strait of Hormuz by collecting fees from vessels.
The Treasury Department said that anyone cooperating with the authority “may be providing support to and receiving services from the IRGC, which ultimately benefits from this attempted extortion, and may therefore be exposed to sanctions risk.”
Oil prices climbed over 3%, with both the international benchmark Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rising.
The escalation came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday stateside that the U.S. will give talks with Iran “every chance to succeed.”
Speaking at a meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Rubio said talks with Iran have made some progress. Trump prefers diplomacy but has other options available if that doesn’t work, Rubio said, likely a reference to renewed military strikes.
— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
