Kuwait, Iran to send envoys back

AFP/Kuwait

Kuwait and Iran have agreed to return their ambassadors, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said yesterday, signalling an end to tensions that have soured ties between the two countries. “It has been decided for the ambassadors of both countries to quickly return to their missions,” Salehi told reporters in Kuwait.

The countries’ “high joint commission will also meet to discuss bilateral relations and means for improving relations between the two neighbours and friends,” he added. Salehi’s visit comes amid allegations of an Iranian spy ring operating in the Gulf state which severed relations between the two countries and saw them engage in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats early April.

Kuwait has expelled three Iranian diplomats it accused of working for an Iranian spy ring, reportedly since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Iran in response expelled “several” Kuwaiti diplomats. The row also prompted the Gulf state to recall its ambassador from Tehran.

“The Republic of Iran is a trustworthy neighbour for the whole region,” said Salehi.
“We are living in a sensitive region and are concerned about maintaining stability and peace. This is one of the priorities in Iran’s external policy.”

Salehi dismissed the Gulf states’ fears regarding Iran as “illusions that have no roots” in reality.
Relations between the Arab states in the Gulf and non-Arab predominantly Shia Iran were strained following a crackdown in March on protests in Bahrain that had been led by the kingdom’s Shia majority.

Iranian and Bahraini diplomats were also expelled from both sides. “We believe that the entry of military forces into the kingdom of Bahrain wasn’t necessary and that the matter must have been dealt with internally in Bahrain,” Salehi said yesterday.