Kuwait Reports Arrest of 12 Individuals 'Linked to Iran'

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior announced on Friday evening that after a week of investigation and inquiry, it has arrested 12 members of a group that has been in contact with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior described this group as 'terrorist.' This news comes three weeks after the closure of some Iranian embassy offices in Kuwait and a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats in the country. According to AFP, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior stated that these 12 individuals were arrested in various regions of the country. The arrest warrants for these individuals were issued following a court ruling regarding the case known as the 'Abdali Group.' Meanwhile, Al Arabiya reported that the court published photos of 16 members of this group and requested Kuwaiti citizens to provide any information they have about these individuals to security agencies. On July 17, the Kuwaiti newspaper 'Al-Siyasa' reported that 14 Kuwaiti Shia citizens, who were convicted of forming a group linked to Tehran, had fled the country via sea to Iran. These 14 individuals had been released from prison after appealing their sentences and were supposed to remain free until the Supreme Court announced its ruling. The Kuwaiti Supreme Court deemed the intelligence investigations by the military and security agencies regarding this group as legitimate and valid, establishing the connection of the group's primary figure, 'Hassan Hajieh,' with 'Abdul Reza Dehghan,' an employee of the Iranian embassy in Kuwait, as 'established.' This case has been ongoing since 2015, and Iran has denied any connection to this group. Following the publication of these reports, the Kuwaiti government on July 20 requested Tehran to reduce its number of diplomats in the country from 19 to 4. On the same day, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Falah Al-Hajraf, the Kuwaiti chargé d'affaires in Tehran, in protest of this decision. Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, also condemned Kuwait's action, stating that 'the issue of expelling or deeming undesirable the members of the Iranian embassy staff is not on the table,' and the Iranian ambassador to Kuwait will remain. In May 2016, Meysam Amroodi, the cultural and social deputy of Tehran Municipality, was arrested upon leaving Kuwait and was released after one day. Following these reports, some websites close to Iranian conservatives stated 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' and 'extensive activities in the Shia community of Kuwait.' Approximately one-third of Kuwaiti citizens are Shia. However, Iran and Kuwait have had less tense relations compared to Tehran's relations with some regional countries, including Saudi Arabia. In this context, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, welcomed 'constructive' dialogues with Iran at the Arab League summit in April of this year. Iranian officials conducted talks with Kuwait and Oman in the latter months of last year, which followed the visit of the Kuwaiti foreign minister to Tehran and the exchange of some messages between the parties. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also considered President Hassan Rouhani's trip to Oman and Kuwait in February 2017 as 'a sign of goodwill' and 'indicative of the desire for good and balanced relations.' Meanwhile, on August 2, Kuwait rejected a Reuters report about the transfer of weapons by the Islamic Republic through its waters to the Houthis in Yemen. Reuters reported on August 1, citing unnamed sources, that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had found a new route for transferring weapons to the Houthi Shia in Yemen through Kuwaiti waters. In this context, 14 Kuwaiti Shia fled to Iran after being convicted in court. Kuwait denied Iran's use of its waters for sending weapons to Yemen. Reuters reported that the IRGC is using new routes to transfer weapons to the Houthis. Bahram Qasemi stated that the Iranian ambassador to Kuwait will remain.