Iran Hits Kuwaiti Power Plant as the War Spills Across the Gulf
Iran’s retaliation reached deep into Gulf civilian infrastructure, with Kuwait reporting that an Iranian strike damaged a combined power and desalination plant, starting a fire and knocking out generating units. Desalination supplies around 90 per cent of Kuwait’s drinking water, exposing the vulnerability of the Gulf states now caught in the war. Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar said their air defences intercepted further drone attacks overnight, and Kuwaiti forces reported injuries among their troops.
Striking a plant that makes both the electricity and the drinking water for a desert state is a dangerous new register in this war, turning the fragility of Gulf economies into a weapon and placing civilians far from the front line in harm’s way. Kuwait hosts American bases that make it a target while depending on the very infrastructure now being hit. Qatar, a key mediator between Washington and Tehran, is itself under fire, narrowing any diplomatic off-ramp. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard framed the attacks as a fresh “wave” of a widening campaign. Watch whether a Gulf state suffers mass casualties, which would pressure it to demand American restraint.