Iran Strikes Kuwait's Largest Refinery, Setting Multiple Units Ablaze

Two waves of Iranian drones struck Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery early Friday morning, igniting fires across multiple operational units at Kuwait's largest oil processing facility and marking the second consecutive day of attacks on a site capable of refining 730,000 barrels per day.

Kuwait National Petroleum Company confirmed the strike on the refinery, which it operates as a subsidiary of the state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Kuwait's military said air defense systems were actively intercepting incoming missile and drone threats as the assault unfolded during the country's Eid al-Fitr holiday, the celebration marking the end of Ramadan. No casualties were reported from either attack.

Thursday's initial drone strike on Mina Al-Ahmadi had produced what KPC described as "a small fire." Friday's assault was far more severe, spreading fires across multiple units. That same Thursday wave also struck the adjacent Mina Abdullah refinery, Kuwait's second-largest at 454,000 barrels per day, situated roughly 10 kilometers south along the Persian Gulf coast. The assault on Kuwait's energy infrastructure had begun a day earlier still, when Iranian drones hit fuel storage facilities at Kuwait International Airport in what Kuwaiti authorities called a "blatant" attack on civilian infrastructure.

The strikes form part of Iran's sweeping retaliatory campaign against Gulf Arab energy infrastructure, triggered by Israel's March 18 strike on South Pars, the world's largest natural gas field and the source of roughly 80 percent of Iran's domestic gas supply. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel acted alone but said he would pause further energy strikes at Trump's request. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the Gulf strikes represented "a fraction" of Iran's capabilities, threatening "zero restraint" if Iran's own facilities faced further attack.

The damage extends well beyond Kuwait's coast. Saudi Arabia curtailed approximately 2.5 million barrels per day of production, shutting in offshore fields including Safaniya, Marjan, Zuluf, and Abu Safa. The UAE reported incoming drone and missile threats; Bahrain said shrapnel from an intercepted projectile ignited a warehouse fire; Saudi Arabia said it destroyed more than a dozen drones within two hours. The wider crisis traces to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz on March 4, through which roughly 20 percent of global oil supplies transit. The International Energy Agency called the resulting disruption the "largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market." Brent crude crossed $100 per barrel on March 8 for the first time in four years and has since peaked at $126 per barrel, with analysts warning of a potential surge to between $170 and $200 per barrel if hostilities continue. QatarEnergy declared force majeure on all exports following the Strait's closure, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain the only Gulf states with alternative export routes that bypass it entirely.

On March 30, Trump threatened to "blow up and completely obliterate" Iran's electric plants, oil wells, and possibly its desalination plants if a deal was not reached "shortly," claiming "great progress" in negotiations. Tehran dismissed U.S. proposals as "unrealistic" and "unreasonable." Legal experts have warned that targeting civilian water and power supplies constitutes "textbook collective punishment" under international laws of war. With drone strikes entering a fifth consecutive day and no agreement in sight, the gap between Washington's ultimatums and Tehran's terms is widening at the same pace as oil prices.