Negotiations have dragged on for weeks, with repeated attacks in the Gulf and Israel’s expanding war in Lebanon adding to the pressure.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait suspended commercial flights on Wednesday after an Iranian drone severely damaged the country’s airport and killed one person — the latest in a series of back-and-forth strikes between Tehran and Washington. Testing fragile ceasefire.
The attack came as Iran’s semi-official news agency said the country had stopped communicating with mediators about extending the deadline. war ceasefire with the United States and Israel. A regional official said Tehran wanted to implement a ceasefire in Lebanon before returning to talks. U.S. President Donald Trump disputed that claim and said talks were continuing.
Those talks have dragged on for weeks, with repeated attacks in the Gulf and Israel’s expanding war in Lebanon adding to the pressure.
All the while, Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz – a vital artery for the world’s oil and gas – while the United States continues to block Iranian ports, ensuring global fuel prices remain high and the conflict’s repercussions extend far beyond the region.
Iranian drone strikes Kuwait’s main airport
Defense Department spokesman Brig.-Gen. General Saud Abdulaziz al-Otaibi said “some hostile drones” attacked the passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport, severely damaging the building and injuring “some people”.
Later, Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that at least one person died and many others were injured.
The airport only reopened on Monday after being closed early in the war. State media reported that Kuwait Airways was suspending operations until further notice.
The U.S. military said Iran launched two missiles toward Kuwait, which disintegrated on the way and “shot down multiple drones targeting U.S. forces stationed in Kuwait.”
The military also said U.S. and Bahraini forces intercepted missiles aimed at the Gulf kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Bahrain’s Defense Ministry said the Bahrain military intercepted and destroyed three missiles and multiple drones launched by Iran.
The U.S. military said it launched an attack on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz in response to attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards acknowledged that they targeted the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet and a U.S. military installation in another country, but did not name Kuwait. The statement said the attack was in retaliation for the attack on Qeshm Island.
“We have previously warned that the response would be different and more severe in the event of an aggression, and we have acted accordingly,” the Guard said in a statement.
A top UAE diplomat on Wednesday called on the Gulf region to take a “firm, unified and cohesive stance” against Iran following the attack.
Anwar Gargash wrote on X: “This aggression is not against a specific country, but against all of us.”
Iranian news agencies report communication with mediator suspended
Iran’s Fars and Tasnim news agencies, believed to be close to the Guard, reported that Iranian negotiators had stopped communicating with ceasefire mediators because Tensions rise Israel is in a separate but related battle with the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, told The Associated Press that Iran had no communication at all on Tuesday after saying it needed to enforce a ceasefire in Lebanon to continue talks.
Trump called reports that talks had stalled “false and wrong.”
“Conversations between us have been ongoing, four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago and today,” Trump said in a social media post. “People never know where they will lead, but as I told Iran, ‘Now is the time for you to make a deal somehow.'”
War with Iran increasingly linked to Israel’s war in Lebanon
Despite a nominal ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli forces are deeper into Lebanon than at any time in a quarter of a century.
Iran insists that any potential larger truce in the country’s war must also quell the fighting in Lebanon.
Trump is likely to urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop or slow the advance of his troops, but Israel and the United States insist that the fighting in Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks.
Magdi reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Amer Madani and Konstantin Tolopin in Washington contributed to this report.
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