Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace on Thursday following the Kuwait airspace closure Iran crisis, after intercepting what it described as ‘hostile aerial targets’ amid a rapidly escalating military confrontation between the United States and Tehran. The closure lasted several hours before Kuwait reopened its airspace.
The episode is part of a broader and fast-moving exchange of strikes that has drawn in several countries across the Middle East, raising fears about the stability of one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
What Triggered the Kuwait Airspace Closure Iran Standoff
Iran’s state-run Tasnim news agency said Iran ‘struck and destroyed eighteen important targets’ belonging to US forces, citing Kuwait’s Ali Salem and Ahmad al-Jaber air bases as well as the Sheikh Issa air base in Bahrain. According to Al Jazeera, Iran also said it had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and an airbase in Azraq, Jordan, as part of the same wave of strikes.
Bahrain’s interior ministry urged civilians to move to a safe place earlier in the day. The media adviser to Bahrain’s king later said the country’s air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed ‘Iranian aerial attacks.’
Israel’s Home Front Command issued a separate warning of launches from Lebanon toward communities in northern Israel, adding another front to an already complicated picture.
US Strikes on Iran: What Was Hit
US Central Command said its strikes against Iran were completed at 9:04 p.m. ET on Wednesday, hitting Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defence sites. The command said US forces fired on Iranian targets that ‘posed a threat to US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.’
Al Jazeera reported that among the locations struck by the US were Qeshm Island and the ports of Sirik, Jask, and Bandar Abbas, all of which lie along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz.
The escalation began after Trump said earlier on Wednesday that the US would hit Iran ‘very hard’ again. ‘We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them hard again today,’ he said at a White House signing event for the Secure America Act. ‘We’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard.’ He added that Iran ‘should sign the deal’ and that the US wants an agreement ‘that’s meaningful and works.’
Strait of Hormuz Closed as Tensions Spike
Iranian state media reported that Iran had targeted US ships in the Strait of Hormuz with missiles and drones. Reuters later reported that Iran’s top military command had completely closed the strait, warning that any vessel attempting to cross would be targeted. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for oil shipments, and its closure sent immediate ripples through financial markets.
US crude climbed nearly 2% to $89.72 per barrel, while Brent rose 1.3% to $92.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 600 points following Trump’s remarks. Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy, told CNBC earlier in the week that oil could hit $150 per barrel within the next couple of months if the fighting in the Middle East continues, noting that inventories are now at very low levels.
Trump said the military operation would end and predicted that oil prices would return to where they stood before the war began in February. ‘When it’s over, you will see oil drop to where it was before,’ he told reporters.
Diplomacy in the Background
Despite the scale of the strikes, Trump told Fox News that he had spoken directly with Iranian officials, who asked him to stop the bombing. He said the strikes would stop shortly and confirmed that Israel was not involved, though he left open the possibility of further military action. When asked whether any ceasefire was now over, Trump reportedly said it was the most violated ceasefire in history.
From Tehran, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, wrote on X that ‘this time, the war won’t be limited to the region.’ Iran has not directly claimed responsibility for downing a US Army Apache helicopter, the incident that US Central Command cited as the trigger for Tuesday’s initial wave of strikes. Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
