A tiny Middle Eastern nation scarred by a decades-old war finds itself caught in another

2026-03-15 - 08:44

For the Persian Gulf’s oil-rich and mostly cosseted residents, Iran’s pummeling has been as unexpected as it has been terrifying. Many expats have beaten a retreat home, as Iran launched missile and drone salvos, tearing up airports, apartment blocks and oil terminals. For the people of the tiny nation of Kuwait – just 50 miles across the sea from Iran – the conflict is a re-awakening of a decades-old nightmare when it found itself at the heart of the first Gulf War. In Kuwait City, at the northern end of the gulf, Khalid Al-Ozaina, a sprightly 70-year-old fisherman, squints into the warming sun as he recalls Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s invasion of the country on August 2, 1990. “That was the last time we were banned from fishing,” he says. Around him hundreds of pleasure boats from the fishing club he runs sit high and dry, marooned on the dock. Wistfully he stares out over the marina’s deceptively calm waters, longing to get a rod in his hand again. “Are things as bad as they were back then?” he asks. “No they are not,” but it is “dangerous” he admits – Iran’s missiles and drones make sure of that. Hussein’s war was so brutal its legacy became fused into Kuwait’s modern DNA, intertwining its destiny with the United States as much as with its near neighbors. Kuwait’s calculus changed when the Iraqi dictator’s elite Republican Guard troops swarmed across the border. Within two days, Hussein had total control of his tiny southern neighbor and its vast oil fields. It shocked the world, sending gas prices soaring, and began the ugliest era in Kuwait’s history. During seven months of occupation and barbaric repression, thousands of Kuwaiti troops and civilians were killed. Hussein, previously considered a close ally of the US, had claimed Kuwait’s oil as his own. His troops were ultimately driven out by a massive 39-nation coalition totaling more than half a million troops, that became known as Gulf War One or Operation Desert Storm. It was launched from Saudi Arabia and led by US President George Bush. As Iraqi troops fled coalition forces, they torched Kuwait’s oil fields. Black smoke and sticky dark rain smothered the country. It was so bad legendary Texan oil well firefighter Paul “Red” Adair was called in to battle the infernos and cap the wells. Part of that war’s legacy was the US setting up several large military bases which Iran has attacked in this war, killing six US military personnel. Four Kuwaiti forces have also been killed, as well as an 11-year-old girl who was killed by falling shrapnel from an Iranian drone while asleep in bed. Many more civilians have been injured. The crucible of this war will be the narrow Strait of Hormuz, about 500 miles southeast down the gulf from Kuwait, and Iran’s Kharg Island just 130 miles away. Mourners take part in a funeral ceremony for three Kuwaiti soldiers in the Sulaibikhat area of Kuwait City on March 3. Jaber Abdulkhaleq/Anadolu/Getty Images At their closest points Kuwait is just 50 miles from Iran. Every Kuwaiti knows tankers in and around the country’s waters will be in Iran’s crosshairs, as well as its oil facilities on land. In 1991 Kuwait’s wealth was saved and the country prospered. Kuwait – and its neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council – have tapped their oil wealth to attract international investment, used to build gleaming glass-and-steel cities for their growing and thriving populations. Ironically, it is their oil wealth that makes the Gulf states such easy prey for Iran’s pressure campaign against US President Donald Trump. Iran’s logic is simple: the higher oil prices are, the greater America’s economic pain, and the quicker Trump will get out of the war. Iran’s missile barrages are also designed to send a message to its Gulf neighbors: their investments are precariously vulnerable to Tehran’s pernicious whim. Iran hopes that will lead them to pressure Trump directly to end this conflict sooner rather than later. But Iran may have miscalculated the resolve of its neighbors. Khaled Al-Rashid, a 66-year-old retired air traffic controller, enjoying a spring evening in Kuwait City’s ancient souk says this war isn’t as cataclysmic as the conflict in the early ’90s. “Now it’s only missiles, and the Kuwait air defense intercepts 98% of them,” he says. It seems to be a view shared by many Kuwaiti families thronging the busy, brightly lit streets, gazing into store windows looking for family gifts for the coming Eid holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan, or relaxing in the many outdoor cafes with friends, smoking shisha, supping on minted tea, or sharing some Arabic mezza. “The Iranian regime believes the Gulf states can influence the US,” Al-Rashid says. “This is why they are attacking us. This is why they target (oil facilities) to increase oil prices so Europe too can pressure the US.” But, he says, that’s not going to happen. “They can fire more missiles but that won’t destabilize us.” Even so, as Ramadan reaches its festive conclusion this coming week, the Kuwaiti government is tempering expectations of a quick end. It has banned concert performances and wedding celebrations during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, citing security fears around large gatherings. Many Kuwaitis, while resilient, fear the war could drag on for months. Al-Ozaina, the fishing club president, reckons it could last “six, even seven months,” while former air traffic controller Al-Rashid has this salutary message: “This is a war Kuwait has no interest in and would not benefit from ... Whoever confronts Iran will lose.” CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany contributed reporting.