Dubai. Kuwait accused Iran on Tuesday of sending an armed paramilitary Revolutionary Guard team to launch a failed attack earlier this month on an island in the Middle East nation home to a China-funded port project.

The accusation by Kuwait of an Iranian link to the incident came just before US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Iran didn't immediately acknowledge the allegation by Kuwait, which came under repeated attack by Iran in the war, and even during the shaky ceasefire still holding in the region. However, the allegation and ongoing attacks throughout the region have threatened to tip the region back into open warfare.

Kuwait said that a team of six armed members of the Guard tried to infiltrate Bubiyan Island in the northwest corner of the Persian Gulf near Iraq and Iran on May 1.

It accused the team of planning to carry out “hostile acts,” without elaborating.

Kuwait said that it detained four of the men, while two escaped when its forces disrupted their infiltration of the island. Kuwait said one of its security officials had been wounded in the attack, which initially was announced on May 3 without any details.

Kuwait identified the men held as two Guard naval captains, a Guard naval lieutenant, and a Guard army lieutenant.

Bubiyan Island is home to Mubarak Al Kabeer Port, which is under construction as part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. That project also came under attack during the war by Iran.

Kuwait provided no reason for why it delayed linking the attack to Iran. Trump is traveling this week to China for a summit with Xi, during which Iran will likely be a topic. Beijing has long been a buyer of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and has been hurt by the strait's closure, which has sparked a global energy crisis.

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