IRGC Says US Commander’s Compound, Drone Facilities Hit at Kuwait Air Base

TEHRAN: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says its forces carried out a combined missile and drone strike against the command compound and living quarters of the US commander at Kuwait’s Ali Al-Salem Air Base, while also targeting drone facilities at the installation.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the IRGC’s Public Relations Department said the operation was launched in retaliation for a US strike that hit civilians in Sirik, in southern Iran.

According to the IRGC, the attack struck a residential house where a young Sunni couple was holding a wedding ceremony, turning the celebration into a mourning ceremony. Iranian authorities said nearly 70 civilians were affected, with five people, including a child, killed.

The IRGC said its Ground Force carried out the strike at dawn, simultaneously with attacks targeting US bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Erbil.

The statement said the missile-and-drone operation targeted the US commander’s command centre and living quarters at Ali Al-Salem Air Base.

The IRGC further said the attack caused US personnel casualties and was followed by strikes against a drone hangar and a deployment ramp used by drones involved in operations against Iran.

According to the Iranian force, several drones were destroyed and the hangar caught fire.

The reported damage and casualty figures have not been independently verified.

The IRGC also issued a message directed at the people of Kuwait, stressing what it described as longstanding ties between the Iranian and Kuwaiti peoples.

The statement said Iran’s concern was not directed toward the Kuwaiti population but toward the presence of US military forces on what it described as Islamic land.

The IRGC said its operations were aimed at ending US military dominance in the region and expressed support for what it described as Kuwait’s freedom and independence.

The latest Iranian retaliation followed a new series of US strikes against Iranian targets, including areas in Chabahar and Konarak in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had conducted airstrikes in response to what Washington described as Iranian preparations to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and a missile barrage targeting a US military base in Jordan.

Iranian military sources rejected the US justification for the strikes.

The latest confrontation comes days after US forces struck Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington said the operation was intended to prevent Iran from deploying mines in the strategically important waterway.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against US military positions in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, further expanding the geographic scope of the confrontation.

Iran’s Armed Forces have since warned that the latest US airstrikes against military positions in southern Iran will trigger what Iranian officials describe as “crushing and devastating” retaliation.

The escalating exchange has raised concerns that attacks involving US military installations across the Gulf and wider Middle East could further widen the conflict and increase risks to regional security, shipping and energy infrastructure.