Kuwait Arrests 10 Iranians on Charges of 'Illegal Entry'

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior announced that the country's coast guard has arrested '10 infiltrating Iranians' for 'attempting to illegally and secretly enter' the country. The official Kuwaiti news agency reported on Sunday, August 14, that one of the arrested individuals was injured after refusing to comply with the coast guard's order to surrender. Alireza Enayati, Iran's ambassador to Kuwait, confirmed the arrest of these 10 individuals and stated that the Iranian embassy is pursuing the matter through official channels in Kuwait. Mr. Enayati told the Fars news agency that 'certainly 9 of these individuals are in good health' and that 'we are following up on the status and health of the tenth individual.' The Iranian ambassador in Kuwait also expressed hope that 'given that the main news is that unauthorized entry has occurred and there is nothing specific beyond this, the status of these individuals will be clarified quickly.' The news of the arrest of these 10 Iranians comes as Colonel Amin Khosravi, commander of the Bushehr maritime police, reported the seizure of three boats and a fishing vessel by the Saudi Arabian coast guard, but he expressed ignorance about the fate of the 16 individuals aboard these vessels. Southern Iran shares significant maritime borders with some Arab countries, including Kuwait, and every year there are reports of fishermen being arrested in these waters. Local fishermen are usually arrested on charges of 'illegal' entry into the waters of the country that detains them, imprisoned for a time, and then released after negotiations. On February 4 of last year, three fishermen were also arrested by Kuwaiti forces and transferred to the country's territory, with officials stating they have no information about their fate. The identities of the missing fishermen, Abdolhasan Bakhtiar, Iman Daryapour, and Abbas Abbasi, have been announced, and the commander of the Bushehr maritime base stated on Saturday that 'we have no information about the survival of these detained fishermen in Kuwait.'