Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait, where power, water plant is alight

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait said Iran hit a power and water plant Sunday causing a fire, the latest attack on energy infrastructure in the small Gulf state, as Bahrain also accused Tehran of targeting civilian sites.

It was the third attack in as many days on a power and water facility in Kuwait, according to authorities, which also reported that an oil facility had been hit on Saturday.

Kuwait has asked residents to limit their power usage as repeated Iranian attacks add further strain to its power network.

Iran had earlier said it carried attacks on US assets in Kuwait, as tensions flared between the two foes over the Strait of Hormuz for more than week.

“As a result of the heinous Iranian aggression on Kuwait, a power and water distillation plant, for the second time in two days, has been subjected to an attack that caused a fire in some facilities of the station,” the Kuwaiti ministry of electricity, water and renewable energy said in a statement on X.

“A large number of power generator units were affected, prompting an emergency protocol to be launched,” it added.

Firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze, it added.

Earlier, Kuwait and Bahrain’s militaries said they were responding to Iranian aerial attacks, and air raid sirens sounded in the two Gulf countries as Tehran pressed its retaliatory strikes across the region.

An AFP journalist reported warning sirens sounding in Kuwait City.

In Bahrain, a reporter said blasts could be heard in the country’s north after another AFP reporter said a warning siren rang out across the capital Manama.

Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, also accused Iran of targeting civilians in its attacks.

In the early hours of Sunday, Iran’s army said it had targeted two US bases in Kuwait with drones in response to American attacks on Iranian territory.

Iran said earlier it carried out “large-scale attacks with kamikaze drones against the US military’s ammunition depot at Camp Udairi and the Patriot radar system and air surveillance radar at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait”, according to a statement on state media.

The small states of Kuwait and Bahrain, which host US military installations, have borne the brunt of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbours since hostilities resumed this month despite a ceasefire and memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

Central Command (CENTCOM) said two service members were killed on Friday as they “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks”.

It said another service member was still missing in action.