Kuwait airport on fire after US attacks tanker heading for Iran

HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• Strikes and counterstrikes between the US and Iran left Kuwait caught in the crossfire. The country reported that its international airport had been hit on Wednesday, forcing the suspension of air traffic and leaving dozens injured, with one fatality. READ MORE BELOW.

• The US hit a Botswana-flagged tanker M/T Lexie on Tuesday that was attempting to break through the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The unladen vessel was passing through international waters towards Kharg Island, and had ignored repeated warnings over the past 24 hours, according to the US Central Command (Centcom). A Hellfire missile targeted the tanker's engines, disabling operations.  

• Donald Trump has said he would like to meet Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. The US president also confirmed that a call he had with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu involving profanity over repeated incursions into Lebanon to bombard Hezbollah fighters.

• Lebanon said that Israeli strikes hit a target near the capital of Beirut on Wednesday, just days after Trump ordered Israeli prime minister Netanyahu to reportedly stay away from the city.

• The UAE's nuclear plant was "carefully targeted" last month by attackers who aimed to cause a major incident, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The drone attack on May 17 hit an electricity facility at the Barakah plant, risking potentially shutting it down in what IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said would have been a "serious situation indeed".

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said that the global economy is set for recessions and energy shortages as higher energy costs weaken consumer spending and business investment. The gloomy view could worsen considerably if the Middle East conflicts drags into 2027, with emerging economies hit hardest, according to the report published in the OECD's Economic Outlook.

• The US Treasury has issued new sanctions on Iran, targeting the country's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex, alongside individuals associated with the company. Last month, a Reuters investigation showed how two brothers from one of Iran's most powerful families control Nobitex, linking millions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran's central bank. READ MORE BELOW.

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to criticise Netanyahu's pledge last week to take control of 70 per cent of the Gaza strip. Speaking on Tuesday at the US House Appropriations Committee, Rubio said that such a move was not part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace strategy: "We have a plan — it doesn't call for that."

• Amid questions on his political survival, Netanyahu announces a 13 billion shekel investment (more than $4.5 billion) to secure and develop northern Israeli communities that line the country's border with Lebanon. The announcement follows weeks of fire from Lebanon's political and paramilitary faction Hezbollah. READ MORE BELOW.

Kuwait's international airport hit as US and Iran exchange strikes

One person has been killed and several injured after Kuwait's international airport was targeted by Iranian strikes on Wednesday morning.

Targeting the T1 terminal building, authorities say the barrage of missiles and drones caused extensive damage to the airport's facilities, with flights diverted and suspended.

Further south, Bahrain also reported Iranian hostilities, with the country's defence force announcing that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed three Iranian missiles and several drones targeting civilian sites.

The attacks come as the US conducts fresh strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island, following the disabling of a Botswanan-flagged tanker that was attempting to reach Kharg Island, according to US authorities.

In a statement to Iran's state media Press TV, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they had fired retaliatory missiles at enemy vessels and American bases in response to the US actions on the M/T Lexie tanker.

Both Bahrain and Kuwait have American military bases, with the former being home to US Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet, a fleet responsible for maritime security across 6.5 million square kilometers including the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. Camp Arifjan is a United States Army installation in Kuwait, which accommodates elements of the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard. The camp is situated 70 kilometers south of Kuwait's international airport.

In a statement, Kuwait's foreign ministry has decried the airport attack as "brutal", expressing their "condemnation and denunciation". Countries across the Middle East have publicly condemned Iran's strikes, with the Gulf Cooperation Council slamming Iran for their "ongoing aggression" against member states Bahrain and Kuwait. 

Sanctions issued on Iran's largest cryptocurrency networks in attempt to wipe out IRGC funding 

The US has issued fresh sanctions on Iran's largest digital asset exchange.

Nobitex was sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), along with three other Iranian digital asset exchanges amid US accusations of enabling the Iranian government and blacklisted state institutions to circumvent Western sanctions. 

The fresh sanctions follow a Reuters investigation that revealed the central role Nobitex was playing in processing millions of dollars in transactions for Iran's central bank and the IRGC, allowing regime insiders to access international digital asset exchanges, evade sanctions and move assets and funds out of the country despite internet blackouts.

Founded in 2017, Nobitex is the first professional cryptocurrency exchange in Iran, and processed more than 50 percent of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025. Since the Iran war started in February, crypto worth at least $22.6 million has moved through Nobitex, according to Reuters.

OFAC has also designated Amir Hossein Rad, Nobitex's chairman, co-founder, and former CEO, as well as co-founders and brothers Ali Aghamir and Mohammad Aghamir, and current CEO Seyed Ali Khoee. Iranian digital asset exchanges Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex were also included in the designations.

Netanyahu announces multi-billion funding for northern Israel as border skirmishes continue

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the investment of $4.5 billion for Israel's war-battered northern towns and cities, as tensions with Lebanon continue to flare. 

The announcement followed a "special meeting" between the prime minister and cabinet members, without the attendance of representatives from the region in question. 

The goal of the investment would be to attract 100,000 new residents to the area, encouraged by improvements to health, transportation, education and tourism infrastructure as well as job opportunities. The plan would also involve substantive funding going towards communities within nine kilometers of the Lebanese border who are regularly impacted by Hezbollah strikes. 

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been a hallmark of the fragile ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel that was agreed in April. According to Lebanon's Health Ministry, more than 3,213 people have been killed and more than 1 million people remain displaced following nearly three months of Israeli strikes. 

A recent ground operation by Israeli forces led to the capture of the historic Beaufort Fortress that sits on the Litani valley in the Nabatieh Governorate, marking the deepest incursion into Lebanon by Israel for 26 years.