Iran attacks Kuwait, Israel after Trump sets deadline for deal

Smoke rises at Kuwait’s international airport after a reported Iranian drone strike on Wednesday.

Photo: AFP Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel and Kuwait on Sunday, a day after US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face “all Hell”.

Kuwait and Israel said their air defences were responding to the latest attacks from Iran, part of the war that erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes that triggered retaliation by Tehran.

The war has spread conflict throughout the Middle East and convulsed the global economy.

Iran’s forces maintain a tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane – a vital conduit for oil and gas – and strike economic targets in Gulf neighbours they see as linked to the US-Israeli war effort.

The economic strikes are also going the other way.

An Israeli or US strike on a petrochemical hub in the southwest of Iran killed five people on Saturday, according to the deputy governor of Khuzestan province. “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to make a deal or open up the Hormuz Strait,” Trump wrote on Saturday on social media, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26. “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign [sic] down on them.” Iran’s central military command rejected the ultimatum, with General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi saying Trump’s threat was a “helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action”.

Echoing Trump’s language, he warned that “the gates of hell will open for you”.

Trump later posted a video showing explosions lighting up a night sky along with text that said: “Many of Iran’s Military Leaders … are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran”, without specifying when it took place.

Tehran said on Friday it had shot down an F-15 warplane, and US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.

Iran’s military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot of that plane was rescued.

Washington has yet to acknowledge either of the shootdowns and has provided no updates on efforts to find the missing airman, whom Iran is also hunting.

The local Mehr news agency on Saturday quoted the deputy governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Fattah Mohammadi, as saying the search for the airman involved “popular forces and tribesmen alongside military forces and is still ongoing”.

He added that “last night, p

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