Tensions Rise as Kuwait Accuses Iran of Island Attack Amid US-Iran Standstill

DUBAI: Kuwait accused Iran on Tuesday of sending an armed paramilitary Revolutionary Guard team to attack an island in the Middle East nation home to a China-funded port project, just before US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Iran didn't immediately acknowledge the allegation by Kuwait, which came under repeated attack by Iran in the war and even during the shaky ceasefire still holding in the region. However, the allegation and ongoing attacks throughout the region have threatened to tip the region back into open warfare. The accusation came as the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said that Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country. That underlined the growing defense relationship between Israel and the UAE, countries long suspicious of Iran. It also represents the first publicly acknowledged deployment of Israel's military to the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The narrow Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran's chokehold and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran appear at a standstill for the moment — also raising the risk of the conflict breaking out again.