KUWAIT (Dispatches) -- 
Kuwait’s Ministry of Education has revoked the educational license of the country’s only Iranian private school and ordered its immediate closure, the latest measure in a sweeping domestic crackdown on pro-Iranian sentiment.
New enrollment has been suspended for the coming academic year, with the ministry urging parents to transfer their children to other schools.
The school has been barred from accepting new students for the 2026/2027 academic year, and parents of currently enrolled students have been ordered to complete transfer procedures before the new term begins.
The closure comes as Kuwait intensifies a much broader domestic campaign of anti-Iranian repression, primarily targeting the country’s Shia communities.
Authorities across Persian Gulf Cooperation Council states—including Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar—have arrested more than 1,000 individuals for sharing war-related content or expressing opinions on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
Kuwait has been at the center of this campaign. Between March 1 and 30, the government announced the arrest of 33 people, including at least three women and one foreign national, on charges ranging from posting content sympathizing with “terrorist groups” to “spreading false information” and “mocking security agencies”.
The number of prosecutions has far exceeded arrests. In April and May, a newly established state security court issued rulings against 204 defendants for expressing sympathy with Iran, “inciting sectarian strife,” and “disseminating false news.”
Sentences ranged from suspended punishment to prison terms of up to 10 years.
A man was detained incommunicado for five days after posting content mourning martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the U.S.-Israeli terrorist bombing.
The campaign has unfolded amid direct Iranian military action against U.S. targets in Kuwait.
Iran’s armed forces launched multiple waves of retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases and assets in Kuwait, including Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base, targeting HIMARS systems, radar facilities, communications infrastructure, and ammunition depots.
In July, Iran destroyed a satellite communications center and a Patriot air defense system in Kuwait.
Iranian statements addressed the Kuwaiti people directly, stating: “We have no enmity with you... This operation was a response to the American criminals.”
Reports indicate the U.S. is planning to relocate some military assets out of Kuwait following the intensity of Iranian strikes.