Kuwait

A small, oil-rich emirate at the head of the Persian Gulf, Kuwait was invaded by Saddam Hussein in 1990 and liberated by a US-led Coalition the following year. That trauma cemented a close defence relationship with Washington and the permanent hosting of CENTCOM assets. Kuwait produces roughly 2.7 million barrels of oil per day and is an OPEC founding member, giving it an outsized role in energy markets relative to its size. Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), one of the world's oldest sovereign wealth funds, manages assets estimated at over $800 billion.

Kuwait has been drawn into the 2026 Iran conflict as a frontline target, with Iranian drones striking the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery for the first time and a second attack hitting the same facility on Eid . The Ahmed al-Jaber Air Base, which hosts US forces, has also come under repeated drone attack . Iran's targeting of Kuwaiti Energy infrastructure mirrors the logic of the Iran-Iraq War's Tanker War phase: punish Gulf States that facilitate US operations. Migrant workers, who make up roughly 70 per cent of Kuwait's population, have borne civilian casualties with no evacuation route . On 30 April 2026 Kuwait was among the OPEC+ Seven — alongside Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — that agreed a 206,000 bpd June production increase, adjusted to exclude the UAE's share following its OPEC+ exit. Brent settled at $123 a barrel that day, the wartime settle high, illustrating the tension Kuwait must manage: its refineries have been struck by Iranian drones while simultaneously it coordinates oil output with the same Gulf coalition that Iran is targeting .