IRGC: Malfunctioning US Patriot, not Iranian missile, hit Kuwait airport
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says a malfunctioning Patriot interceptor, not an Iranian missile, struck Kuwait International Airport.
IRGC Spokesman Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi made the remarks on Wednesday after Kuwait blamed Iran for strikes on its airport that killed one person, wounded dozens and briefly closed the facility.
Mohebbi said that investigations show the IRGC Aerospace Force had not fired at the Kuwaiti airport terminal.
“The destruction of the Kuwait airport passenger terminal was caused by an error in American Patriot systems, which came down on the terminal after failing to intercept Iranian missiles,” he added.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the IRGC announced it had launched missiles and drones against the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, a US Air Force base in Kuwait and other American military assets in the Persian Gulf region.
The attacks were in retaliation for a US strike on an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman and for a US attack on a communications tower south of Qeshm Island.
The exchange was the latest in back-and-forth attacks by Iran and the US.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Tehran will use "all its capabilities" to confront acts of aggression, including by striking their origin and source.
"The action of any country in allowing aggressor parties to use its land, sea, or air territory or facilities and bases located within their territory to carry out or support military aggression against Iran constitutes a clear violation of fundamental rules of international law and the principle of good neighborliness.”
Following the attacks, Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's charge d'affaires to Kuwait City, Hamed Ya'qoubi Far, to deliver him an official protest note.
It also declared two members of the Iranian diplomatic mission persona non grata and asked them to leave Kuwait within 24 hours.
The unjustified US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.
The Iranian armed forces unleashed 100 waves of successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region and restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
On April 8, forty days into the war, an Islamabad-brokered temporary ceasefire went into effect. However, the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement.
The US unilaterally extended the truce after its expiry, but imposed an inhumane “naval blockade” of Iran while using its bases in the Arab Persian Gulf countries to fuel tensions against Iran.
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