Iran Calls Arms Trafficking Allegations in Kuwait 'Baseless'

The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs has described the allegations made against the Islamic Republic regarding the discovery of weapons and ammunition in Kuwait as 'completely baseless' and stated that 'those opposing the cordial relations between the two countries are behind these unconstructive movements.' According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Hossein Amir-Abdollahian emphasized on Saturday, September 14, that 'it is expected that the leadership of Kuwait will take wise action to prevent the continuation of these destructive narratives.' He stressed that the Islamic Republic 'only thinks about the security of the region and Kuwait' and considers the security of this country as its own security. The Kuwaiti prosecutor's office on Tuesday, September 10, announced that 24 individuals, including one Iranian national, were accused of 'espionage for the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah' with the aim of 'hostile actions against the state of Kuwait' and 'smuggling explosives, weapons, and ammunition' into the country. In response, the Iranian embassy in Kuwait emphasized that it has no information about the identity of the individual identified as an Iranian citizen in this case and considers these claims as 'a continuation of negative media propaganda' against the relations between the two countries. Relations between Iran and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf have experienced significant ups and downs in recent years, with some regional countries accusing Iran of interfering in their internal affairs. However, Iran and Kuwait have relatively less tense relations compared to Tehran's relations with other regional countries, and the Iranian Foreign Minister mentioned earlier in June that Kuwait is a country whose relations with Tehran are expanding. The new tension in Iran-Kuwait relations comes at a time when Meysam Amroodi, the cultural and social deputy of the Tehran municipality, was arrested while leaving Kuwait in May and was released after one day. Following the publication of this news, some websites close to Iranian conservatives reported that he had previously been the head of Iranian schools in Kuwait in 2008 but was expelled due to 'anti-Zionist and anti-American positions' as well as 'extensive activities in the Shia community of Kuwait.'