Iran fired two ballistic missiles at US forces in Kuwait late on Sunday 31 May; CENTCOM (US Central Command) and Kuwaiti air defences intercepted both, with CENTCOM confirming the engagement at 08:26 the next morning 1. Kuwait hosts US forces and opened fire again early on Monday 1 June against incoming drone and missile fire, an advance on the IRGC's Sirik Island strike and the projectiles Kuwait intercepted the same day . Kuwait has invoked Article 51, the UN Charter provision granting a state the right to self-defence against armed attack.
This is a direct exchange between Iran and the United States, distinct in kind from the commercial harassment of shipping in the Gulf. State forces fired ballistic missiles at a state's troops, and that state's air defences answered. The word "ceasefire" and live ballistic-missile intercepts now coexist in the same 24 hours.
Iran and the US kept shooting through a truce they both still invoke. A single missed interception over a Gulf base could pull Washington back into open war while its negotiators still call a deal close. The interception record holding is the only thing keeping the missile track and the diplomatic track from colliding.
