Kuwait is temporarily closing its airspace to civil flights following renewed Iranian shelling, with incoming flights being diverted to alternative airports, Kuwaiti authorities announced this morning on the Ex network, quoted by DPA, BTA reported.
"The measure is being introduced in light of the fact that the State of Kuwait is subject to criminal Iranian aggression and due to the potential risks of these actions to civil aviation traffic in the region," Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in Ex.
The Kuwaiti military said air defenses had been activated, and Bahrain's Interior Ministry said sirens were sounding across the kingdom and urged residents to remain calm and seek safe places.
Iranian armed forces earlier said they had attacked their two Gulf neighbors in response to overnight US strikes on targets in Iran.
Both Bahrain and Kuwait have US military bases, and both countries are just a few hundred kilometers from Iran.
Iranian state media reported that the US Navy's regional headquarters in Bahrain was attacked by kamikaze drones that targeted Patriot air defense systems.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked a total of 18 targets at two US air bases in Kuwait and one in Bahrain, as well as the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.
The IRGC later said it had carried out strikes for the second consecutive night on the US air base in Al Azraq" in Jordan, firing 12 ballistic missiles at it, Reuters notes.
The United States and Iran exchanged air strikes for a second day in a row, with President Donald Trump threatening more strikes if Tehran does not immediately agree to a peace deal. The escalation of hostilities began earlier this week with the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting a series of retaliatory strikes on Iran and U.S. bases in the region.