US-Iran Strikes Hit Kuwait as Strait of Hormuz Stays Closed
- Jul 20
- 3 min read
WHAT HAPPENED: The war between the United States and Iran widened across the Persian Gulf over the weekend, with Kuwait absorbing some of the most serious damage yet. Iranian strikes hit a water desalination plant and an oil facility in the small desert nation, injuring several people at the oil site and sparking a fire at the desalination plant that forced several power generation units offline. US strikes on Iran, meanwhile, have now continued for nine consecutive days since peace talks collapsed.
It was the second attack on a Kuwaiti desalination plant in two days — an ominous pattern in a country that depends on desalination for roughly 90 percent of its drinking water. The strikes underline how a conflict that began over the Strait of Hormuz has metastasized into a region-wide campaign against infrastructure that civilians depend on.
WHAT WE KNOW: The United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets through the weekend as their battle over the strait intensified. Washington's target list has included Iranian ports, bridges, and military assets near the waterway; Tehran has answered with missile and drone attacks on US bases and on Gulf states it accuses of enabling the American campaign, including strikes on facilities in Kuwait and other neighbors.
The Strait of Hormuz itself remains closed. Iran announced the closure on July 12 and has enforced it, striking one vessel traveling an unapproved route and saying it disabled a second. The Revolutionary Guard says the strait stays shut until US interference in the region ends. Only a handful of ships have attempted the passage in recent days, choking the artery that carries about a fifth of the world's oil.
The interim ceasefire that briefly paused the fighting has collapsed, by Tehran's own account, and neither side is signaling restraint. The failed talks reportedly foundered on a memorandum of understanding governing the strait — the very issue now being contested with missiles rather than negotiators.
BACKGROUND: The conflict traces back more than four months, to a war begun by the United States and Israel against Iran. What began as strikes on nuclear and military targets has evolved through rounds of escalation, brief ceasefires, and collapsed negotiations into the current phase: a grinding campaign in which Iran leverages its geography astride the world's most important oil chokepoint, and the US attempts to punish that leverage without triggering a wider regional collapse.
Kuwait's plight illustrates the bind facing the smaller Gulf states. They host US forces and infrastructure, making them targets in Tehran's eyes, but they lack the strategic depth or defenses of Saudi Arabia. Attacks on desalination and power infrastructure are particularly dangerous in the Gulf, where summer temperatures and imported water make utilities a matter of survival, not convenience.
REACTION: Kuwaiti authorities have condemned the strikes while racing to restore power units and secure water supplies. Gulf governments are walking a careful line — denouncing attacks on their soil while avoiding language that would commit them to a shooting war with their neighbor across the water. Oil markets delivered their own verdict: Brent crude surged past $90 a barrel Monday, its highest since mid-June, and Goldman Sachs revived its $100 scenario.
In Washington, the strikes have been framed as punishing Iran for the deaths of American troops and for attacks on shipping. Critics at home and abroad question the endgame, noting that nine days of continuous bombing have neither reopened the strait nor brought Tehran back to the table.
WHAT TO WATCH: The most immediate humanitarian question is Kuwait's water and power supply — a third strike on desalination infrastructure would create a genuine emergency. Militarily, watch whether the US moves to escort shipping through the strait or strike the missile and drone sites conducting the Gulf attacks, and whether Iran widens its targeting to Saudi or Emirati export terminals, which would represent a dramatic escalation.
Diplomatically, the collapsed memorandum of understanding remains the obvious framework if talks resume. Any mediation signals — from Oman, Qatar, or European capitals — would be the first indication that an off-ramp is being built. Until then, the conflict's trajectory is set by whichever side absorbs a blow it feels compelled to answer.
BOTTOM LINE: A war over a waterway is becoming a war on the infrastructure of daily life in the Gulf. With the strait closed, ceasefire dead, and strikes now reaching the water supply of an entire nation, the US-Iran conflict has entered its most dangerous phase yet — and there is no clear end in sight.
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