• One Indian citizen killed, over 60 injured as Kuwait airport hit
• US carries out strikes near Hormuz; targets missile sites, mine-laying boats
• Trump says dialogue could yield result this weekend; seeks to separate Lebanon, Iran talks
• Rubio declares ‘victory’ in Mideast; says future actions will be defensive
• Iran warns against US ‘overreach’ in negotiations; Araghchi says Iran will respond decisively if Israel attacks Beirut
DUBAI: Gulf hostilities flared again on Wednesday as alleged Iranian attacks on Kuwait damaged its airport and injured dozens while the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, with diplomacy to halt the war showing little sign of progress.
The attacks are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire, sending oil prices up more than two per cent, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Wednesday that Washington’s military campaign against Iran, codenamed “Epic Fury”, had concluded and that any subsequent American military action would be defensive.
Separately, US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran could yield results over the coming weekend and are going “very well”. “I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually,” Trump told reporters, adding of a potential deal: “It could happen… over the weekend.”
He also said he wanted to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war between the United States and Iran, although Tehran insists the conflicts are linked. Trump also claimed that under a deal being discussed with Iran, “we will get” Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which has been a major sticking point in negotiations.
Kuwait attack
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended after an Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing an Indian citizen and injuring more than 60 others, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied responsibility on Wednesday for the attack. According to the IRGC’s official Telegram channel, Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi said that “the destruction of the Kuwait airport passenger terminal was caused by an error in the American Patriot systems, which landed on the terminal after failing to intercept Iranian missiles”.
However, the US military said Iranian claims were false, adding that Iran struck the civilian airport with drones in a “deliberate, calculated and unjustified attack”.
The Guards earlier said they had targeted a different location, “the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, which hosts helicopters” for the US.
Kuwaiti health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 63 people were treated for injuries “including head wounds, cerebral haemorrhages, amputations and injuries resulting from explosions”.
The Gulf nation said it detected a total of 30 ballistic missiles and drones launched Wednesday during the “heinous Iranian aggression”.
Bahrain authorities also said they had intercepted three Iranian missiles and a number of drones.
Saudi Arabia strongly denounced Iran’s attack on Kuwait’s international airport, branding it “treacherous … aggression and [a] blatant violation” of Kuwaiti sovereignty.
Oman also condemned the attacks on its Gulf neighbours as a violation of international law and a threat to civilians. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi called the attacks a “dangerous and unprecedented escalation”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that his country was executing “self-defence strikes” against sites “the US is permitted to use to attack civilian shipping and violate the ceasefire”.
He said lines of communication with the United States were still open, but “no tangible progress” has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war.
“Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process,” the Tasnim news agency quoted him as telling Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV.
Mr Araghchi stressed that “if Israel attacks Beirut, Iran would respond decisively”, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of “playing with fire”.
“Iran surely knows what the (US) president has said, that if necessary, there’ll be a full-scale return to military action,” Netanyahu warned in an interview with US channel CNBC, referring to threats made by Donald Trump.
Earlier, Iranian media reported that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards had attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a US airbase, as well as a vessel identified as Panaya.
The state media reported that Iran had targeted a US military ship hosting a “control and command centre” while it was approaching Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman.
US Central Command denied its bases had been hit and said Iranian ballistic missiles failed to strike their targets in the region.
Centcom said it had carried out a new round of “defensive strikes” in southern Iran, targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats seeking to lay mines, and conducted strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz after attempted Iranian attacks.
‘Epic Fury over’
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rubio told lawmakers, “We’re no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over.” Rubio made the remarks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing when members of Congress questioned the administration’s assessment of the conflict and its aftermath.
Rubio argued that the operation was a “victory” as Washington achieved its objectives by severely degrading Iran’s conventional military capabilities.
According to the secretary, the US had destroyed Iran’s defence industrial base, significantly reduced its missile launchers and drone stockpile, destroyed what remained of its air force and wiped out its conventional navy.
“Those are all gone,” Rubio said. “So, I consider that victory, and we did, too. And that was the purpose of Epic Fury.”
He also noted that despite the extensive damage inflicted by the United States and Israel, Iran retained some drone and maritime combat capabilities. Rubio also told lawmakers that while the administration would welcome political change in Iran, it was not the objective of the US military mission.
US overreach
Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran would not allow the US to “overreach” either in negotiations or ceasefire arrangements. In a post on X, he warned that any aggression would be met with a barrage of missiles and drones. Iran’s parliament speaker Bagher Ghalibaf also stressed that Tehran would meet any attack with a strong response.
“Today, the Iranian nation, in its battle with America and the Zionist regime, showed that the era of free-of-charge Iran threats is over and that any aggression will be met with a decisive, regrettable, and proportionate response,” Ghalibaf said, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said repeated attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain required a firm and cohesive Gulf response. “The aggression does not target one country alone, but all of us,” he wrote on X.
Anwar Iqbal in Washington also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2026