Iran strikes Kuwait as US hits Tehran in sharp West Asia escalation

Cairo,UPDATED: Jul 30, 2026 13:46 IST

Fresh attacks across West Asia on Thursday signalled a sharp escalation in the conflict, with an Iranian strike hitting a Chinese company’s building in northern Kuwait and Jordan saying its air defences had brought down five missiles launched from Iran. The developments came hours after the US military said it had completed "a heavy wave of strikes against Iran" in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a US base in Jordan.

The latest exchanges also extended beyond Iran, Jordan and Kuwait. Fires were reported on two natural gas vessels at Egypt’s Damietta port after suspected drone strikes, while Saudi Arabia accused Iraqi militias of targeting its oil facilities in recent days. The renewed violence after several days of relative calm has raised fears of a wider war and added to concerns over disruption to energy supplies and trade routes.

In Kuwait, the military said an Iranian strike hit a Chinese firm’s building in the north of the country on Thursday morning, severely damaging the structure and killing a worker. In Jordan, no casualties were reported after the interception of five Iranian missiles, the state-run Petra news agency said, quoting the spokesman for the country’s armed forces.

US Central Command said in a social media post that the United States had struck "dozens" of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including military command centres, missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defence sites. The strikes came hours after US President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran "very hard" after it targeted a base in Jordan that hosts US troops.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency said three people were killed and two were wounded in a strike on the island of Qeshm, just off the Iranian mainland in the Strait of Hormuz. The latest barrage followed US-Saudi strikes on Iran-backed militias in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday, in which at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers were killed.

Elsewhere, British maritime security firm Ambrey said drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear who was behind the strikes on a US-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker, and no injuries were reported. The office of the Egyptian prime minister said initial investigations showed the fires on the two vessels had been caused by a drone. Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible, Trump said: "It’s a little more of the same." He added, "In the meantime, we’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them."

Saudi Arabia said Iraqi militias had fired drones at its oil facilities in recent days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict. On Wednesday, Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorised to comment publicly on the private meetings. They said Saudi Arabia’s decision to join US attacks on the Iraqi militias was meant to signal that it would not tolerate Iran or its proxies targeting the Saudi oil industry and other critical infrastructure. At the same time, they said the minister underscored to Trump and Vance that Saudi Arabia wanted de-escalation and a return to negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Before the latest escalation, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the US and Iran back to the negotiating table. An interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy supplies that Iranian attacks have again effectively closed. A regional official said mediators were "still trying with both sides" to restore calm and get the ceasefire back on track, but gave no details on progress.

Saudi Arabia is also facing a renewed conflict with the Houthis, who have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping that could choke another key trade route through the Bab el-Mandeb strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to move oil across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key export route affected by disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. The rebels said the attack was in response to a Saudi drone entering Yemen’s airspace. Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday, analysed by The Associated Press, showed damage to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil-processing facility, which can process about 7 million barrels of crude a day. The latest round of attacks has widened the scope of the conflict and deepened concerns over regional security and energy supplies.

With PTI Inputs

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