One killed and dozens injured in Kuwait by Iranian drones

**Alex Ritson** (0:00)
This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson, and at 16h GMT on Wednesday 3rd June, these are our main stories. Kuwait's International Airport is hit by Iranian drones as US-Iran talks stall. Ukraine targets the Russian city of St Petersburg as an investment summit known as Putin's Davos gets underway. Malawi prepares a return programme for its citizens in South Africa impacted by migrant attacks. Also in this podcast.
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Countries in the Gulf have once again come under attack from Iran as the Islamic Republic and the United States exchange fire, making their ceasefire ever more fragile. Kuwait has said that one person was killed and at least 63 others were wounded when a passenger terminal at the international airport there was hit by an Iranian drone. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they carried out the attack, described by Kuwait's Foreign Ministry as an act of aggression. Yolande Nel is in Jerusalem, monitoring developments for us.

**Yolande Nel** (1:25)
Kuwait has repeatedly come under attack by Iran since the start of the war and during the fragile ceasefire as well. It has two air bases and Iran accuses US forces base there of carrying out some of the recent attacks on its territory. A number of hostile drones hit the airport, according to Kuwaiti authorities. There is this video footage circulating and someone shows where a drone entered. You can see all the glass overhead has been smashed in the night sky.
There's a fire. There's a lot of damage. And Kuwait Airways is now flying but just out of a neighbouring terminal. A lot of flights have been suspended from there. This is an airport that only just opened on Monday after being closed at the height of hostilities during the war with Iran. But Bahrain is the headquarters of the US Naval 5th Fleet and it was also attacked with missiles and drones. The authorities there are saying they were intercepted working jointly with US forces. And all of this is happening now in the Gulf. I mean, this is after several times where the ceasefire has been strained in just the past week. Now you've got officials in the Gulf, a senior Emirati diplomat, Anwar Gargash, for example, talking about the need for a firm united, a cohesive Gulf position saying the aggression does not just target a specific state but us all.
You can see things really heating up there now.

**Alex Ritson** (2:43)
Yeah, I mean, can we still call this a ceasefire?

**Yolande Nel** (2:47)
I mean, I think in many ways what has happened in recent months in this region has sort of changed the definition of what counts as a ceasefire. When you look at what's been going on, I mean, there's the background to what happened in Kuwait and Bahrain as other exchanges of fire that have gone on between the US and Iran. It seems that US Central Command fired at a tanker that was getting into an Iranian port, disabling it, and Iranian media say the Revolutionary Guards then targeted a vessel in response. The US went on to down drones and target the Iranian military ground station on Qashem Island saying that was self-defense. Iran's Supreme Leader's military advisor saying that Iran will not allow the US to overreach in negotiations or ceasefire agreements. You've got the semi-official Iranian news agency saying that the country has stopped communicating with mediators about extending a ceasefire in the war with the US and Israel.
A regional official saying that Tehran wants the truce in Lebanon enforced before returning to talks. President Trump has been saying these negotiations are continuing, but this is coming after the talks have really dragged on for weeks and there have been these repeated exchanges of strikes in the Gulf. Israel's war in Lebanon is widening and that is all complicating the efforts.

**Alex Ritson** (4:01)
Yoland Nell.
Drones also seem to be playing an increasingly prominent role in the war in Ukraine and proving to be a thorn in the side of Russia. Now, a regional Russian official says they have brought down 50 unmanned devices during an attack on the area around St Petersburg. It comes as a major conference opens in the city. The BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg is in St Petersburg.

**Steve Rosenberg** (4:28)
The black smoke is the result of an overnight drone attack, a suspected Ukrainian drone attack on the St Petersburg area. Last night, the governor of Leningrad region, just outside the city of St Petersburg, issued an air raid warning. This morning, he announced that more than 50 drones had been shot down. Local officials say that infrastructure was hit, they're not specifying what. But we know that in recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have been targeting oil facilities, for example, in many parts of Russia.