DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait accused Iran of launching a failed attack earlier this month on an island where China is helping build a port in the Middle East nation.
The accusation brought Tuesday came just before President Donald Trump was to depart for Beijing where he'll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a high-stakes visit over the war and other issues.
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Iran didn't immediately acknowledge the allegation by Kuwait, which came under attack by Iran in the war and during the shaky ceasefire still holding. But that allegation and ongoing attacks throughout the region have threatened to reignite open warfare.
The narrow Strait of Hormuz remains in Iran's chokehold, the U.S. is maintaining a blockade against Iran and negotiations between the two countries appear at a standstill.
With the risk of the conflict breaking out again, Israel has sent Iron Dome air-defense weapons and personnel to operate them in the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the war, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said.
That underlined the growing relationship between Israel and the UAE, both long suspicious of Iran. It also represents the first publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel's military to the Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Kuwait said a paramilitary Revolutionary Guard team tried to infiltrate Bubiyan Island in the northwest corner of the Persian Gulf near Iraq and Iran on May 1.
Four men were detained and two escaped when Kuwait's forces disrupted the attack, it said.
Bubiyan Island is home to Mubarak Al Kabeer Port, which is under construction as part of a Chinese plan to build infrastructure across the world. It also came under Iranian attack during the war.
Kuwait provided no reason for why it delayed linking the attack to Iran after initially announcing it on May 3 without any details. Trump is traveling this week to China for a summit where Iran will likely be a main topic. Beijing long has been a buyer of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and has been hurt by the strait's closure, which has sparked a global energy crisis.
U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a one-time presidential candidate, revealed at a conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, that Israel has sent Iron Dome air-defense to the UAE.
The United Arab Emirates diplomatically recognized Israel in 2020. That drew criticism from Iran, long Israel's main regional enemy. Iran didn't immediately respond to Huckabee's remarks, though it has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the Emirates.
The Israeli military declined to comment on Huckabee's statement about the Iron Dome while the UAE didn't immediately respond.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, was quoted as making comments similar to Huckabee's during an event at the Israeli mission — suggesting the release of the information was intentional, likely with the Emiratis' and Israelis' blessing.
The UAE has faced Iranian missile and drone fire even after the ceasefire was reached last month. It has been trying to signal to nervous investors and the public that it remains open for business and safe.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told members of Congress Tuesday that the military has plenty of bombs and missiles despite concerns about its stockpiles.
He also maintained that the U.S. is in control of the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iranian attacks — and threats — have disrupted the shipment of oil and other products through the vital waterway.
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"Ultimately we control the strait, because nothing's going in that we don't allow to go in," said Hegseth, who faced tough questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers who oversee defense spending.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, asked what the Trump administration's strategy is for reopening the waterway. "Your average American is seeing this at the gas pump every single day as the cost of gas continues to rise," Coons said.
Hegseth avoided specifics about the next steps in Iran. The Pentagon's top budget official told Congress that the cost of the war is close to $29 billion so far — that's up from an estimate of $25 billion just two weeks ago.
One of Norway's top diplomats met Tuesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, pressing for the need to open the strait.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Kravik stressed that the attacks on commercial shipping and obstruction of the passageway must end, his minister, Espen Barth Eide, said in an email.
Kravik said Iran's actions affecting third-party countries are "completely unacceptable" and noted that Norway has some 25 vessels stranded, according to Eide.
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press reporters Sam Metz in Ramallah, West Bank, Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Switzerland, contributed.
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