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The education ministry source told AFP that the directive revokes the school’s educational licence with immediate effect while prohibiting any fresh enrolments for the forthcoming academic year. Parents of current pupils have been urged to transfer their children to other licensed institutions in Kuwait to maintain uninterrupted schooling. This step follows Iranian missile strikes on Kuwait and fellow Gulf states earlier in 2026 that prompted a broad review of security measures across sensitive sectors including education. Reuters reported that Iran launched missiles at several Arab Gulf cities in February 2026, triggering explosions, airspace closures and widespread safety alerts.
An education ministry source who spoke on condition of anonymity framed the closure as a necessary precaution linked to the repeated Iranian attacks that occurred after the breakdown of a June ceasefire in the broader regional war. The decision applies to the single Iranian school operating in Kuwait, which had followed a curriculum aligned with standards from Tehran. Authorities determined that continued operation carried unacceptable risks amid the prevailing security climate, the source added. Anadolu Agency quoted Iran’s Education Ministry spokesman Ali Farhadi as confirming in late April that multiple Iranian schools across the Gulf had been affected by the conflict.
Farhadi stated that seven Iranian schools in the UAE and Kuwait were closed during the war with students redirected to online platforms supervised from Oman or directly from Iran. He noted that Iranian schools in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE completed the academic year entirely through remote learning. The Kuwaiti revocation of the licence appears to convert what began as a wartime suspension into a permanent measure. Iranian officials described the closures as disruptive for hundreds of students across the affected facilities.
Kuwait has hosted a longstanding Iranian expatriate community numbering in the tens of thousands according to historical data from the Public Authority for Civil Information, though updated 2026 figures remain unpublished. The school primarily served children from this demographic, offering instruction that mirrored Iran’s national education system while operating under Kuwaiti regulatory oversight. The ministry’s order will require those families to integrate their children into local private or public schools for the new term. Similar actions were taken in the UAE, where authorities also revoked licences for Iranian schools after the conflict, Iranian reports indicated.
Education systems across the GCC faced repeated interruptions in 2026 from both the Iranian attacks and precautionary measures that included shifts to remote learning in Bahrain and Qatar. A Gulf Business assessment of regional schooling during the period emphasised how authorities prioritised safety while seeking to preserve academic continuity wherever possible. Kuwait’s decision on the Iranian school stands among the stricter responses, eliminating the foreign entity’s legal basis to operate rather than merely pausing activities. The education ministry has yet to release an official public statement detailing the rationale or implementation timeline.
The closure coincides with ongoing diplomatic strains between Kuwait and Iran that have persisted since the early 2026 exchanges of strikes involving United States and Israeli actions against Iranian targets. Regional analysts tracking Gulf-Iran relations noted that educational and cultural institutions often become early points of friction during such escalations. Kuwaiti officials have maintained that all decisions regarding foreign schools adhere strictly to national security protocols and licensing requirements. Parents affected by the order are expected to receive guidance from the ministry on transfer procedures in the coming days.
