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The IRGC tried to infiltrate Kuwait. It didn't go as planned

1 min Philippe Naggar

Kuwait has revealed that four Iranian military officers arrested in early May while attempting to enter the country by sea have confessed to belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and being tasked with infiltrating Bubiyan Island, Kuwait's largest island located close to the Iranian coast.

The Foreign Ministry condemned the operation as a "hostile act" and a "flagrant violation" of Kuwaiti sovereignty © Mena Today 

The Foreign Ministry condemned the operation as a "hostile act" and a "flagrant violation" of Kuwaiti sovereignty © Mena Today 

Kuwait has revealed that four Iranian military officers arrested in early May while attempting to enter the country by sea have confessed to belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and being tasked with infiltrating Bubiyan Island, Kuwait's largest island located close to the Iranian coast.

The four men, two naval colonels, a captain and a lieutenant, attempted to reach the island on May 1 aboard a specially chartered fishing boat "to carry out hostile actions against Kuwait," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. 

During a firefight with Kuwaiti forces stationed on the island, one Kuwaiti soldier was wounded and two IRGC members managed to flee.

Kuwait summoned Iran's ambassador Mohammad Toutounji, for the fourth time since Iran began targeting Gulf states allied with the United States following the Israeli-American strike launched on February 28, and handed him a formal letter of protest. 

The Foreign Ministry condemned the operation as a "hostile act" and a "flagrant violation" of Kuwaiti sovereignty, asserting the country's full right to self-defence.

The incident is the latest in a series of Iranian-linked security operations uncovered in Kuwait. Since the war began, Kuwaiti authorities have arrested 24 people for financing "terrorist" entities, six suspects with alleged Hezbollah ties, and now four IRGC officers caught in the act.

Philippe Naggar

Philippe Naggar

Philippe Naggar is a French-Egyptian journalist. Based in Abu Dhabi, he covers news across the Middle East and the Gulf region. He previously lived for several years in Tehran, giving him a solid expertise on Iran

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