Kuwait demanded that two Iranian embassy staff leave the country within 24 hours on Wednesday after an Iranian attack on the country's airport killed one person and injured dozens more.

Kuwait's deputy foreign affairs minister Hamad Suleiman Al-Mashaan summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Kuwait, Hamed Hamid Yaqoubi Far, and "handed him an official protest note regarding the continued Iranian attacks and the decision to reduce the number of members of the Iranian Embassy in the country and to consider two members of the Iranian diplomatic mission persona non grata, and request their departure from the territory of the State of Kuwait within a maximum period of 24 hours" the ministry said in a statement.

It comes after an attack killed an Indian national and injured 63 people at Kuwait's international airport, which forced it to temporarily close. It is also the first deadly strike on the Gulf since an April 8 ceasefire came into effect.

The country's health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 25 ambulances were dispatched at Kuwait International Airport, adding that "63 injured individuals were received and distributed among hospitals... This includes serious injuries... including head wounds, cerebral haemorrhages, amputations and injuries resulting from explosions."

Those included "civilians, and people working at the airport and travellers," it added.

The airport compound includes Cargo City, a base used by US forces but at a distance from the civilian terminals.

Iran accused Kuwait and Bahrain of allowing the United States to use their territory to launch attacks on an Iranian tanker and island.

Tehran said it attacked the US Navy's Middle East headquarters in Bahrain as well as the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, but did not mention the airport. (AFP)


Edited by Aaron Tam