Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denied launching attacks against Gulf states early Friday after Kuwait accused Tehran of targeting it despite a two-week ceasefire.
“During the past few hours, various news channels have published reports of attacks on facilities in some Gulf states. We must inform you that the Iranian Armed Forces did not launch any missiles or drones at any country during the ceasefire,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s Press TV.
“If these reports published by the media are true, it is undoubtedly the work of the Zionist enemy or the United States,” the IRGC said in a statement.
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Earlier on Thursday, Kuwait’s state news agency reported that drones attacked a National Guard site, causing significant material damage but no casualties.
Shortly after, Kuwait strongly condemned the attack, saying several “vital facilities” were targeted by Tehran despite the ceasefire.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its strong condemnation and condemnation of the State of Kuwait for the heinous attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies, including factions, militias and armed groups loyal to it, through drones that targeted several vital facilities in the State of Kuwait, on the evening of Thursday the 9th, its airspace and a flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law and the United Nations Charter,” it said Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Saudi Arabia also said it had been targeted by Iranian drones, with attacks on “oil and gas production, transportation and refining infrastructure, as well as petrochemical plants and power plants in Riyadh, Eastern Province and the industrial city of Yanbu” reported, according to an energy ministry official quoted by AFP.
The official also said one of the pumping stations on the vital pipeline was hit, reducing pumping capacity by 700,000 barrels per day.
The Manifa and Khurais production facilities were also hit by the Iranian attacks, which reduced the kingdom’s oil production capacity by 600,000 barrels per day, the official added.
Other facilities targeted include refineries in Jubail, Ras Tanura, Yanbu and Riyadh, as well as gas processing facilities, according to a Saudi official.
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Talks between the US and Iran are scheduled for Saturday
The development comes amid a two-week truce between the US and Iran after negotiators secured a temporary two-week truce just 90 minutes before US President Donald Trump’s deadline to fly to Tehran through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
American and Iranian negotiators are scheduled to meet for face-to-face talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, starting Saturday morning, April 11. The talks, hosted and mediated by Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will focus on a comprehensive 10-point proposal on nuclear enrichment, regional security, the Strait of Hormuz and sanctions.
The high-level US delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance, joined by Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Presidential Advisor Jared Kushner and CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper. They are negotiating with an Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi.
