Kuwait expels Iranian diplomats

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait on Thursday expelled Iranian diplomats and closed some embassy missions after the emirate’s top court convicted a “terror” cell of links to the Islamic republic, the foreign ministry said.

Kuwait, which has a sizeable  minority, is trying to mediate an end to the Gulf’s worst crisis in years after regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar in June.

They severed relations with energy-rich Qatar over accusations it is too close to  Iran and funds extremists -- allegations denied by Doha.

A Kuwaiti supreme court ruling last month convicted 21 people of belonging to a cell that had been formed and trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. “Iranian sides helped and supported the cell members,” Kuwait’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP around 15 Iranian diplomats were expelled.  He declined to comment on whether the Iranian ambassador was among those ordered to leave.

Kuwait also ordered the closure of the Iranian “military, cultural and trade” missions, the official said. Iranian authorities meanwhile summoned Kuwait’s charge d’affaires, state-run IRAN news agency reported.

Kuwait’s supreme court last month sentenced the mastermind of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms for alleged links with Iran and Lebanese Hizbullah, and plotting terror attacks in Kuwait.

State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, who is also acting information minister, confirmed Kuwait had taken diplomatic action against Iran.

“Following the supreme court ruling on the case... the government of Kuwait has decided to take measures, in accordance with diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, towards its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he told AFP.

The latest development comes amid escalating tension in the Gulf, involving Qatar and four Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Analysts have warned the crisis could break apart the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.