Well, it turns out the little guys on the block got tired of being pushed around. Bahrain and Kuwait reportedly launched airstrikes against targets inside Iran earlier this month, according to a Wall Street Journal report, marking the first time either country has been known to directly hit Iranian soil with military force. That is quite the foreign policy debut.
The operation involved fighter jets from both Gulf nations going after drone and missile storage facilities, along with other military sites. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates played the supporting role, feeding intelligence on where to aim and providing defensive air cover. Think of the UAE as the friend who holds the flashlight while you do the actual work.
Now here is where it gets fun. Bahrain and Kuwait have relatively tiny air forces stocked mostly with American and European hardware. These are not exactly superpowers we are talking about. But apparently weeks of Iranian aggression will motivate even the smallest nations to dust off their jets and say "enough already."
Neither country has officially confirmed anything, naturally. Government spokespeople from both Bahrain and Kuwait ghosted the Wall Street Journal's requests for comment. Classic move. Bomb a country, then leave reporters on read.
So why is Iran picking on these two in particular? Because both nations happen to host major American military installations. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and Kuwait plays landlord to thousands of American service members spread across multiple bases. Iran basically decided to poke the bear by attacking the bear's favorite parking spots.
Kuwait's Foreign Ministry did confirm that Iran struck a power generation and water desalination facility over the weekend, calling it a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law. Nothing says "we have crossed a line" quite like targeting the thing that keeps the lights on and the water drinkable.
Both Bahrain and Kuwait have been firing up their air defense systems repeatedly to knock down incoming Iranian missiles and drones, though fortunately neither country has reported significant casualties from the attacks. The UAE chimed in with a diplomatic statement condemning Iran's aggression, expressing solidarity with its neighbors, and calling for everyone to calm down and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States also jumped back into action on Friday, launching additional strikes across Iran after American bases in the region were targeted. However, the attacks did not continue through the night, which snapped a streak of 13 straight nights of military operations. Thirteen consecutive nights! That is less of a military campaign and more of a really terrible Netflix binge.
So to recap: two small Gulf nations with modest air forces decided they had absorbed enough punishment and went on offense. Iran is somehow surprised that repeatedly bombing countries with American military bases has consequences. And nobody wants to publicly take credit for anything. Just another totally normal week in the Middle East.
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