The Ministry of Interior said in a statement published on X on Tuesday that the operation took place on May 1 and the naval officers arrested “aboard a fishing boat specially chartered to carry out hostile actions against Kuwait” admitted they had been tasked by the IRGC with “infiltrating”. Aljazeera reported.
The ministry identified the group members as Colonels Amir Hussein Abd Mohammed Zara’i and Abdulsamad Yadallah Qanwati, Captain Ahmed Jamshid Gholam Reza Zulfiqari and First Lieutenant Mohammed Hussein Sehrab Faroughi Rad.
During a confrontation with Kuwaiti forces on the island, gunfire wounded one Kuwaiti service member, the ministry said. Two other members of the group navy Captain Mansour Qambari and the boat’s captain, Abdulali Kazem Siamari escaped during the clash.
There was no immediate reaction from Iran on the accusations.
Bubiyan is Kuwait’s largest island, located at the northern tip of the Gulf near the Iraqi border. It holds significant strategic value due to its proximity to key shipping lanes and its location near Kuwait’s northern oilfields and military installations.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the alleged incursion as a “flagrant violation” of Kuwaiti sovereignty and a grave breach of international law. It demanded that Iran immediately and unconditionally cease “unlawful hostile acts”.