United States President Donald Trump is set to attend a solemn “dignified transfer” ceremony on Saturday for six American soldiers killed in an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait.
The ceremony will take place at Dover Air Force Base, where the remains of U.S. service members killed overseas are traditionally returned to American soil, the White House said on Friday.
The six troops — five men and one woman aged between 20 and 54 — were killed on Sunday when a drone struck a key U.S. command center in Kuwait’s southern industrial hub of Port Shuaiba. The soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, a logistics unit responsible for supplying American forces with food, fuel, equipment, and ammunition.
The deadly strike occurred just a day after the United States and Israel launched a sweeping military campaign against Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the region.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed the president’s attendance at the transfer ceremony.
“Tomorrow, he will be traveling to Joint Base Dover to attend the dignified transfer of the remains of the six service members who were killed in the opening salvo that Iran launched at our forces,” she said.
A dignified transfer is among the most solemn responsibilities undertaken by a U.S. president. Although it is not a formal government ceremony, it follows a carefully choreographed military ritual. During the process, flag-draped transfer cases carrying the remains of fallen troops are carried from the aircraft by service members from the same military branch.
The cases are then transported to the mortuary facility at Dover, where the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System identifies the remains and prepares them for burial.
Trump has attended several such ceremonies in the past, honoring American service members killed in combat zones around the world.
The attack in Kuwait highlights the growing risks faced by U.S. military personnel deployed across the Middle East as hostilities between Washington and Tehran intensify. In recent days, Iranian forces have reportedly launched drones and missiles toward American and allied targets across the region.
U.S. officials have warned that the conflict could escalate further in the coming days, raising concerns about a broader regional confrontation.
Iran pledges to halt attacks on Gulf States if …
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said in an apparently prerecorded statement that Tehran would halt its blistering attacks on its Gulf neighbours, if only the United States would end using them as stations base to launch attacks against Iran.
In what were considered as the highest-level de-escalatory comments so far from Iran, Pezeshkian apologized to his neighbours for days of strikes that sparked panic in areas hitherto believed to be safe.
He apologized on behalf of Iran’s armed forces saying they “acted on their own authority and did what was necessary to defend our homeland with dignity and strength,” a recurring message from some Iranian leaders justifying the heavy targeting of cities across the Gulf Arab states.
