Iran's ballistic missile strike on Kuwait injures five Americans
Shafaq News- Kuwait
Iran launched a Fateh-110 ballistic missile toward Kuwait within the past 24 hours, with Kuwaiti air defense systems intercepting and destroying it mid-flight, Bloomberg reported Saturday, citing sources familiar with the incident.
Debris from the interception fell inside Ali Al-Salem Air Base in northwestern Kuwait, injuring five Americans —soldiers and military contractors among them— and destroying one MQ-9 Reaper drone outright while severely damaging a second.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned “the flagrant Iranian violation of Kuwaiti sovereignty,” reserving the right to take all necessary measures under international law.
Washington had accused Iran on Thursday of violating the 50-day-old ceasefire following the alleged launch, a charge Tehran has not formally answered.
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of fragile US-Iran negotiations over a draft memorandum of understanding that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies transit, while reducing tensions across several regional theaters, including Lebanon.
Trump announced Friday that Washington would lift its naval blockade of the Strait, calling for its immediate reopening free of transit fees, adding that Iran must commit to never acquiring a nuclear weapon and demanded unrestricted two-way maritime traffic. On enriched nuclear material, Trump said it would be extracted by the United States —in coordination with Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency— and destroyed. He added that no financial transfers would take place until further notice.
Iran's state-affiliated Fars News Agency, citing informed sources, said that Trump's remarks were a mix of truth and falsehood designed to project a political victory before any final deal is approved. “The draft memorandum remains under review in Tehran and has not received final authorization.” The sources also pointed to provisions Trump did not mention publicly: the release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets and a ceasefire arrangement in Lebanon.
