Kuwait confirms Iranian diplomats have been expelled

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah of Kuwait confirmed on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi that Iranian diplomats accused of spying have been expelled amid heightened Gulf tensions.

“We kicked them out,” Sheikh Mohammed told reporters on the sidelines of a Gulf Cooperation Council-European Union ministerial meeting when asked about Iranian diplomats that Kuwait had said it would expel.

He did not provide their names or say how many diplomats were kicked out.

Iranian state television had previously said three of Tehran's diplomats and an embassy employee were expelled from Kuwait, but Sheikh Mohammed’s remark on Wednesday was the first official confirmation from the Kuwaiti side.

Sheikh Mohammed had said on March 31 that Iranian diplomats were to be expelled for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran, reportedly since the invasion of Iraq.

The foreign minister charged that the diplomats had proven links to a suspected spy ring, three members of which were condemned to death on March 29 by a Kuwaiti court.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti newspapers reported on Wednesday that three Kuwaiti diplomats who were expelled from Iran in a tit-for-tat move had arrived in Kuwait the day before.

The alleged spy ring, which included both Kuwaitis and Iranian nationals, were suspected of carrying out espionage work on behalf of the Islamic Republic. Media reports said they had been gathering information about Kuwaiti and US military sites.

The expulsions come during heightened tensions between Gulf Arab states and their Iranian neighbor. In addition to Kuwaiti allegations of Iranian spying, Bahrain has also accused Iran of meddling in its affairs.

The March 14 intervention of a Saudi-led Gulf force in Bahrain, which helped the tiny Sunni-ruled kingdom’s security forces to crush a Shiite-led pro-democracy protest movement, sparked a war of words between Shiite Iran and its Sunni Arab neighbors.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa told reporters in Dubai on Monday that the Gulf force had entered Bahrain “to deter an external threat” and he said.

Iran complained to the United Nations about the deployment of Gulf Cooperation Council forces in Bahrain and said it cannot remain indifferent to the crackdown on protests, which has continued in recent weeks with the arrests of hundreds of activists and some deaths in custody.

Bahrain has put two Iranians and a Bahraini on trial on charges of spying for Iran.

Iran has denied all spying charges and accused the United States of instigating the trouble with the Gulf States.

(Sara Ghasemilee of Al Arabiya can be reached at:[email protected])