Iran Widens War to US Gulf Allies, Damaging Kuwait Water Plant as Qatar and Jordan Intercept Missiles

Iran on Friday extended its missile and drone campaign to the civilian infrastructure of United States allies in the Gulf, a significant widening of a conflict that had until now centered on Iran and the waters around it. Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy confirmed that a strike damaged a power-generation and water-desalination plant, starting a fire and disabling several electricity units before crews contained it. About 90 percent of Kuwait's drinking water comes from desalination, and Kuwaiti authorities said one worker was killed. France 24 reported the plant damage, and the account was corroborated by CGTN and Haaretz.

Elsewhere, Qatar's Ministry of Defense said its forces intercepted a missile attack over Doha, with a child wounded by falling debris, and Jordan's armed forces said they shot down three ballistic missiles that entered its airspace from Iran, reporting no casualties. Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan all host US military facilities. A separate strike near Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq hit a camp of the Komala party, an exiled Iranian-Kurdish opposition group, which said eight to nine of its members were killed and blamed Iran. These are the first such attacks that the targeted governments themselves have confirmed, after Tehran's earlier claims of hitting Gulf sites could not be independently verified.

The strikes are retaliation for a United States campaign that has now moved to infrastructure inside Iran. Iranian state media said American forces struck bridges and a railway junction, and The Hindu reported that projectiles hit Qeshm Island and areas near Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's largest port and key naval facilities on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's authorities said at least seven people were killed and nine wounded in strikes that included the Kahurestan bridge linking Bandar Abbas to Shiraz, and Iranian sources cited by Al Jazeera said the strikes hit civilian infrastructure and caused casualties. Tehran, through its Revolutionary Guard, said it launched fresh attacks on American facilities in the Gulf. United States President Donald Trump, in a primetime address, said Washington was winning "big in Iran," even as a negotiated settlement appeared distant. Washington's naval blockade of Iranian ports is now in force, and the 60-day ceasefire memorandum signed last month is set to expire on August 16.

The effect on shipping is not disputed. Confirmed crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the passage for roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, have fallen about 62 percent to 4.1 million barrels a day. Iranian missiles struck two United Arab Emirates tankers in the strait, killing one crew member, according to the UAE defense ministry. Brent crude traded at about 86 dollars a barrel, up more than 10 percent over the week and reversing an earlier decline to pre-war levels.