CAIRO - Kuwait's major national oil company the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced Saturday a precautionary cut in crude oil production and refining.

Citing escalating regional tensions, the KPC said in a statement that the adjustment is "strictly precautionary" and that the company "remains fully prepared to restore production levels once conditions allow."

The announcement came amid heightened regional tensions following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb 28, to which Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and US assets across the Middle East.

Earlier on Saturday, Iran's army said its navy has launched a wave of drone attacks targeting Israel as well as US bases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait.

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Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Minister of Defense Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah held separate phone calls during the day with his Saudi and UAE counterparts on the latest regional developments, according to reports by the official Kuwait News Agency.