An Iranian ballistic missile strike on a US military facility in Kuwait destroyed two MQ-9 Reaper drones and caused minor injuries to several US personnel, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the incident.The report stated that a Fateh 110 missile targeted Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait during the past 24 hours. Although Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted the missile, the debris fell inside the base.According to the report, one MQ-9 Reaper drone was destroyed and another was severely damaged in the latest strike. The drones are worth about $30 million each.At least five people, including US service members and contractors, suffered minor injuries in the accident.
The strike came at a time when the White House was studying a possible extension of the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. A meeting in the White House Situation Room ended without any public announcement, although US President Donald Trump said earlier that he was ready to make a “final decision” on a preliminary agreement.This development comes days after the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that it targeted a US air base in the region after new US strikes on southern Iran.
While Kuwait confirmed that it had intercepted what it described as “hostile missile and drone threats,” it did not specify the intended target.The missile launch came after US military action against Iranian assets. According to US officials, US forces shot down Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz and bombed a military site in Bandar Abbas, a strategic port city in southern Iran.The recent hostilities have raised new concerns about the stability of the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, in place since April, as the conflict between Washington and Tehran enters its fourth month amid ongoing negotiations to extend the truce.The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said that its attack targeted the “source” of previous US operations against Iran. The US Central Command (Centcom) described the Iranian strike on Kuwait as a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire.”Central Command said the incident occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five attack drones in one direction near the Strait of Hormuz. According to the US military, all five drones were intercepted, while a sixth drone launched from a ground observation site in Bandar Abbas was also stopped.The US military said its actions were “deliberate, purely defensive, and aimed at maintaining the ceasefire.”Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei condemned the American strikes and described them as a violation of the ceasefire. He said that Iran “will take all necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty,” according to what was reported by the Iranian Radio and Television Corporation.The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned what it called “the criminal Iranian attacks that targeted” its territory.