Kuwait city: A video shared on Telegram on July 16 documenting an Iranian strike on Kuwait has brought to light the stringent measures Gulf states are employing in response to such incidents. The footage, captured from the Iraqi border city of Umm Qasr, was verified by the FRANCE 24 Observers team. Since the conflict ignited on February 28, Iran has targeted US military sites in allied states across the Persian Gulf region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, all of which host US bases.
According to France24.com, images of these strikes are often rare and brief, filmed from distant vantage points. Authorities in the region have implemented severe policies against those documenting the aftermath of Iran's attacks. Since the onset of the war, there has been a significant crackdown on residents, journalists, tourists, and expatriates, with more than 1,000 arrests reported across these US-allied states by Amnesty International.
Mahmoud Shalaby, a regional researcher at Amnesty International, highlighted that Gulf countries have expanded pre-existing restrictions on freedom of expression under the guise of war-related measures. He noted that between March and May, Bahrain alone witnessed over 300 arrests, with at least 34 individuals sentenced to prison for sharing images on social media. In Kuwait, over 200 people faced legal consequences, including suspended sentences or imprisonment. In the UAE, 375 arrests were made in March, with police conducting door-to-door searches and phone inspections in drone-struck areas.
Moreover, the crackdown has included the stripping of citizenship in some cases. Bahrain revoked the citizenship of 69 individuals, accusing them of sympathizing with Iranian attacks, while Kuwait stripped more than 1,000 people of their citizenship without explanation. These actions, Shalaby argues, exceed the bounds of international human rights standards.
The ability of media and researchers to document these attacks is further hindered by Gulf states' coordinated public stance of intercepting attacks, despite evidence suggesting otherwise. The US has also restricted satellite-imagery companies from releasing updated images of these regions, forcing reliance on limited online videos and low-resolution satellite services from Europe and China.
In Bahrain, despite government claims of interception, satellite imagery and geolocated footage have confirmed Iranian strikes, such as the June 10 attack on a US radar installation. Similarly, evidence from European satellite images showed a direct hit on Al Udeid, a US base in Qatar, with no official acknowledgment from Qatari or US officials.
Shalaby suggests that Gulf states aim to protect their image as secure regions by downplaying the impact of these attacks. The concealment efforts are not unique to Arab countries; investigations have revealed that the Trump administration also downplayed the scale of Iranian attacks on US bases in the Middle East.
Source: France24.com