Military Officials Reportedly Question Whether Kuwait Base Hit By Iranian Weapons Was Adequately Fortified After Six Were Killed

Military officials are questioning whether a U.S. military base in Kuwait where six service members were killed was adequately fortified, according to a new report.

The base in question is located at the Shuaiba port. CBS News noted that the country has been under heavy fire from Iran, as have several other countries in the gulf since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the development, saying that while defenses intercept most attacks, "every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that makes its way through."

"And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons," Hegseth added.

However, officials who spoke to the outlet questioned whether the fortifications were adequate, claiming that the operations center was a triple-wide trailer turned into office space.

The fortifications, the official said, were 12-foot tall concrete barriers reinforced with steel. While they can protect personnel from explosions and rockets, they are weak against an overhead strike. Other officials said the strike appeared to fully hit the top of the building. It appeared to be a Shahed-136 "kamikaze" drone.

Given the outcome, they said, there were discussions about the need of having operations center there because there were too many troops in a place that couldn't be properly defended. In fact, two of the three officials said they did not recall hearing the warning sirens that let people know about an incoming threat. The outlet noted that there were no counter-attacks.

In this context, some Gulf countries are lobbying U.S. allies to convince President Donald Trump to keep the war in Iran short to prevent regional escalation and maintain energy price shocks contained, according to a different report. They are the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Bloomberg detailed that the countries, both of which have been targeted by Iran since Saturday, are trying to build a coalition of countries looking for a swift end to the conflict. Regardless, both countries are looking to allies to strengthen their defenses.

Qatari officials showed the outlet a document noting that, should shipping lanes in the region continue to be disrupted for a few more days, energy markets could be severely disrupted beyond a shock on Monday.

Despite the efforts, President Donald Trump said on Monday that he expects the operation to continue for "four or five weeks," but the army has the "capability to go far longer than that."