Iran Unleashes Fresh Attack Waves On Kuwait, UAE As Trump Signals De-escalation Ahead Of Midterms
Iran’s retaliatory attacks on US bases and the regional countries hosting them actually continued overnight into Thursday, despite CENTCOM having on Wednesday announced the cessation of the US bombing operation. This week’s round of US attacks saw six Iranian navy…
Iran’s retaliatory attacks on US bases and the regional countries hosting them actually continued overnight into Thursday, despite CENTCOM having on Wednesday announced the cessation of the US bombing operation.
This week’s round of US attacks saw six Iranian navy personnel killed, Tasnim is reporting, with Iran’s Health Ministry stating that 18 Iranians were killed and over 140 wounded since August 30. The ministry also indicates most of the casualties were women and children, especially due to the reported US bombing of a wedding in the coastal town of Kuhestak along the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.
Many of the victims’ funerals have commenced on Thursday, regional media reports. The NY Times and other Western media have been seeking to verify details amid ongoing investigations. “Dozens of guests, according to a witness and accounts in local news media, had already arrived at the Malahi family’s home and surrounding buildings in the southern city of Kuhestak to celebrate a young bride and groom,” NYT writes.
“Around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the wedding was struck by a bomb that, according to a weapons expert and a visual analysis by The New York Times, had been released by American forces as they carried out intense attacks in southern Iran,” the report continues. “At least five wedding guests were killed, including a 6-year-old boy, and at least 67 other people were wounded, according to Iran’s Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian aid group.”
President Trump and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have meanwhile expressed dismay over why the Iranians don’t ‘rise up’ – but rarely do populations under assault want to openly side with the country attacking them and bombing weddings, hospitals, and girls schools. This is certainly not a strategy for ‘winning over’ the population.
As for the latest military action, while Iran launched ballistic missiles and/or drones on Bahrain and Jordan on Wednesday as part of the initial salvo, the Kuwaiti government is confirming that its territory has alco come under attack Thursday:
Sirens sounded in Kuwait early Thursday, where air defenses intercepted missile and drones during a “blatant Iranian aggression,” the Ministry of Defense said on X.
Kuwait’s foreign ministry promptly condemned this the latest attack that began before dawn – slamming the flagrant violation of its sovereignty and a direct threat to its security.
“The continuation of these brazen assaults reflects a hostile approach and constitutes a dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region,” the ministry state. It added that “the attacks represented a systematic undermining of diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalation and calm” – and said it reserves the right to respond.
Crucially, Tehran is also saying Thursday that it targeted UAE, in a rarity – though it’s unclear if there have been any impacts, or the nature of the attack wave. According to a Tasnim press release of the Iranian Army statement [machine translated]:
UAE Strongly Condemns Hostile Iranian Attack on Kuwait, but has not initially confirmed if its own territory was hit as well
As for the Trump administration’s moves from here, or the ‘what’s next?’ – Bloomberg on Thursday states the obvious (which is a headline that might as well have been on repeat throughout the whole summer): ‘We Are Stalled’: US-Iran Conflict Stuck With No End in Sight. The below headline also hints at what could be a conflict lull ahead of midterms, now that each side perhaps ‘escalated to de-escalate’ this week…
Also, Goldman Sachs Delta One Desk offers the following analysis and market angle [emphasis zh]:
The most important headline overnight may be the WSJ report that “Privately, Trump is having discussions with senior aides about whether to declare the Iran war over, U.S. officials said, noting Trump has said he favors the idea.” Trump said, “I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing.” That feels like US reflexivity becoming explicit. Oil >$90, product markets are tight, gasoline matters politically and interceptor inventories are reportedly stretched. My bias remain that this is an escalate to de-escalate… that on the other side of Labor day there might be a different approach. Perhaps optimistically, that makes me think we are closer to the high end than the low end of the near term energy range.
On the other side of the conflict, the Iranians have shown a keen understanding of how energy markets and the growing unpopularity of the war among the American public factor into the November midterms.
Al Jazeera highlights the view from Tehran, offering the analysis of Sultan Barakat, Professor of Public Policy at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar:
“I think Iran is just holding their breath to see what happens with the midterm elections in the United States,” Barakat told Al Jazeera. “If that election goes against what Trump wishes, then you could see the president being impeached. I think the Democrats will probably ask for a halt on the war and go back to negotiation.”
While, “impeached” is a highly unlikely scenario and a bit strong in this context, Barakat pointed out that this is “major gambling on the Iranian side,” since “Trump has nothing to lose now. He can actually take actions that were not anticipated in the past, or maybe were far-fetched in the past.” Trump himself on Wednesday brushed off midterm election concerns:
Prof. Barakat continued by saying “the ultimate losers, really, are still the Gulf States” now “past six months” into the economic strain, and yet still with no unified effort or momentum “to talk directly to the Iranians to come with a solution to the current problem.”
Source Zerohedge.Com