Iran claims attacks against US bases in Kuwait and the UAE

The armed confrontation between the United States and Iran involved on Thursday, September 3, the Gulf countries hosting American installations. The Iranian military stated it had struck military bases used by US forces in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, presenting the operation as a response to Washington’s actions. The news is reported by the Al Jazeera desk, which cites official Iranian and Kuwaiti statements, and by the CBS News desk, which draws on the same institutional sources.

The most detailed account comes from the Kuwaiti side. The country’s armed forces state that air defenses were activated against missiles and drones attributed to Iran, and authorities say they were struck in the early hours of Thursday. The statement, as reported by both outlets, does not specify how many munitions were intercepted, whether there was damage on the ground, or whether there were casualties: these are three pieces of information currently missing, and their absence should not be mistaken for a denial. On the political level, however, Kuwait City’s position is clear: the Iranian attacks are described as a flagrant violation of national sovereignty and a direct threat to the country’s security.

The Iranian armed forces justified the action with wording echoing the language of previous weeks.

“in response to America’s crimes against the Iranian people” (transl. from English) — statement by the Iranian armed forces, cited by Al Jazeera

This is not an isolated episode. The day before, on September 2, Tehran had already claimed attacks against US targets in the UAE, Jordan and Kuwait. The geography of the declared targets has therefore been the same for two days, and concerns third countries with respect to the bilateral confrontation: Gulf monarchies and Jordan, where American forces maintain installations. US President Donald Trump has threatened further attacks and claimed the clashes will not last long.

Kuhestak, two distant versions

The day’s second front concerns the reconstruction of the targets struck by the United States. Iranian sources claim that a US airstrike on the evening of September 1 in Kuhestak, in Sirik county, southern Hormozgan province, hit a wedding reception. The American version was handled by Vice President JD Vance, who said he was very skeptical of that account and added that he did not want to use the word “war” for the ongoing conflict. The US denial is not accompanied, in the available excerpts, by an alternative account of what was actually struck at Kuhestak.

On military losses, the figures circulated so far all come from the same side: Iranian officials reported that in the attacks between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force were killed, along with two from the navy and one from the Basij militia. These are figures declared by one belligerent and not independently confirmed. The same caveat applies, in the opposite direction, to Vance’s assessment, reported by CBS News and placed within the framework of monitoring by the Council on Foreign Relations.

What we don’t know

We don’t know which bases were struck in Kuwait and the UAE, nor with what results: neither source provides a list of installations or a casualty count. We don’t know whether the UAE has released its own account of Thursday’s events. There is, in the excerpts, no independent verification of the Kuhestak wedding reception nor an official US counter-account regarding that target. There is also no formal position from Amman on the September 2 claims.

The political fact that stands alone is the Kuwaiti reaction: a country hosting US forces has publicly condemned Tehran for striking its own territory, and its anti-aircraft defenses opened fire.