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Kuwait said Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal at its main airport Wednesday, killing one person, wounding dozens and briefly closing the airfield -- the latest in back-and-forth attacks by Iran and the U.S. that test a fragile ceasefire.
The strike reinforced the risks to residents and travelers in Gulf countries that had considered themselves relative havens before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Iran denied causing the damage.
Talks have dragged on for weeks as mediators seek a more enduring truce in the war, now in its fourth month. They are increasingly strained by Israel's broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
A regional official said Iran wanted a separate ceasefire in Lebanon enforced before returning to talks. President Donald Trump said negotiations continue to extend the Iran ceasefire, even as the U.S. launched strikes against military sites on an Iranian island.
"We've been hitting them pretty hard," Trump said when asked by reporters on Wednesday if the ceasefire remains in place. "I'd say in that part of the world a ceasefire is when you're shooting in a more moderate manner."
The fighting in Lebanon has exposed a rift between Israel and the U.S., which is pushing its ally for restraint. In a measure of the friction, Trump acknowledged that he'd called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "crazy" during a phone call earlier this week. Nonetheless, both men say their rapport is solid.
Iran maintains its hold on the Strait of Hormuz -- a crucial waterway for the world's oil and natural gas and related products like fertilizer -- and the U.S. continues its blockade of Iranian ports. Global fuel prices remain high, and the effects of the conflict are felt well beyond the region.