Iran struck a Kuwaiti power and water desalination plant for the second consecutive day on Saturday, forcing the shutdown of several power generation units, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said, as a wider exchange of strikes between Iran and Gulf states hosting US forces intensified.
The ministry said the attack sparked a fire at one of the facility’s components, a day after a similar strike damaged a transformer at the Zour South electricity and desalination complex. Kuwait’s national carrier said most flights were being rescheduled after rocket and drone attacks temporarily suspended air traffic at Kuwait International Airport. Kuwait’s military said it responded to Iranian drone attacks on three separate occasions during the barrage.
In Bahrain, the army said air defenses intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial attacks, with air-raid sirens sounding five times since dawn and residents told to take shelter. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it struck Sheikh Isa Air Base, which hosts US warplanes, along with a Batelco telecommunications data center, framing the action as retaliation for American strikes. Iranian state media separately reported attacks on fuel storage tanks at Jordan’s Al Azraq air base.
The strikes followed a seventh consecutive night of US attacks on Iran, with US Central Command saying it hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities using fighter jets, drones and warships. Iranian media reported that US missiles also struck power stations and desalination pumps in the southern Iranian city of Jask. Both sides have continued targeting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington enforcing a naval blockade and Iran saying it is intercepting vessels it accuses of violating its rules for navigating the strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply typically passes.
