Iran and the US launched fresh attacks on each other on Wednesday in the first major escalation in six days, with an Iranian strike on Kuwait killing an Indian national and injuring 63 others.Following the escalation, oil prices spiked again, with benchmark Brent crude trading at $97.41 a barrel.Meanwhile, the US Central Command said it had carried out “self-defence” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island and had “defeated multiple” Iranian missiles and drones.Media reports, citing Kuwait’s General Civil Aviation Authority, said the attack caused “severe damage” to Terminal 1 of the airport.The Kuwaiti Ministry of Defence said the armed forces monitored and intercepted 13 ballistic missiles and 17 hostile drones over several residential areas, though some shrapnel fell on the ground.Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared two members of Iran’s diplomatic mission persona non grata and demanded their immediate departure. The ministry summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires to lodge an official protest over what it described as Iran’s “brutal and relentless aggressions”.The attack on Kuwait was claimed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which said it was carried out in retaliation for US attacks on an Iranian oil tanker and on Qeshm Island.“The US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and the helicopter-hosting Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait were targeted with missiles and drones by the Guards’ forces in response to this aggression,” the IRGC said in a statement.The Iranian Consulate in Hyderabad also posted on X, citing past UN resolutions to justify the attack on Kuwait, alleging that it had allowed “aggressor parties” to use its land, sea and airspace as well as military facilities to support operations against Iran.Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by a US news channel as saying that Israeli and US forces were prepared for further action if required.“We leave it to Trump to decide whether escalation is necessary and whether opening the Strait of Hormuz is militarily possible,” Netanyahu said.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia strongly condemned what it called “the flagrant Iranian aggression and blatant violation of the sovereignty” of Bahrain and Kuwait, including the targeting of Kuwait International Airport.In a statement posted on X, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, “The Kingdom reiterates that these violations undermine international efforts to restore security and stability in the region.”