Smoke rises after an Iranian drone struck a fuel depot at Kuwait airport on 25 March 2026 [Getty]
New satellite imagery has appeared to show damage at an American air base in Kuwait following an Iranian strike on Wednesday, contradicting claims by the US military that it had successfully thwarted the attack.
The high-resolution imagery, released by Soar Atlas on Wednesday, showed the destruction of an aircraft shelter at the Ali Al Salem airbase west of Kuwait City.
Soar, an open-access platform that distributes satellite imagery, said the shelter “appears destroyed, with multiple impact craters visible nearby at the strike site”.
Iran has launched several attacks against military and civilian infrastructure in Kuwait in recent days amid rising tensions with the US.
Ali Al Salem Air Base is one of the primary tactical airlift and logistics hubs for U.S. and coalition operations in the Middle East.
This newly released imagery provides the clearest view yet of the damage following recent Iranian attacks.#IranWar #MiddleEast #Kuwait pic.twitter.com/YsvhvOISuH
— Soar (@SoarAtlas) June 4, 2026
US Central Command has claimed that air defences intercepted all incoming drones and missiles and that no damage was caused to American military sites.
Wednesday’s attack “failed to impact intended targets”, CENTCOM said in a statement.
“Air defences successfully downed multiple drones and ensured no American personnel or assets were harmed,” it said.
News reports following an attack on 30 May said that debris from a downed Iranian missile injured five American soldiers at the base.
Ali Al Salem is a major American airbase and key logistics hub for US military operations in the region.
Iran said the attacks were in retaliation to US strikes on an Iranian oil tanker and military site on Qeshm Island, which it said were conducted from Kuwait and Bahrain.
A separate attack on Kuwait’s international airport on Wednesday killed one person and injured 60 others in what the defence ministry called “criminal Iranian aggression”.
CCTV footage what appeared to be a Shahed drone impacting the roof of the terminal 1 building, triggering a large explosion.
The foreign ministry said diplomatic missions had also been damaged in similar Iranian attacks.
It has since ordered two Iranian diplomats to leave the country and summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard denied responsibility for the airport strike.
