Kuwaiti FM visits Tehran to discuss Arab-Iranian ties

By Eman Nassar

ISTANBUL (AA) - Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss Gulf-Iranian relations.

During his one-day visit, Kuwait’s top diplomat is slated to meet Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and other Iranian officials, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

On Tuesday, al-Sabah said he planned to deliver a message from Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani regarding the "basis for dialogue" between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Tehran.

"The message will address the principles of dialogue between the states of the GCC and Iran," he said at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Those principles, the foreign minister added, "should be based on the UN charter and the principles of international law".

GCC member states often accuse Iran of meddling in their internal affairs -- claims denied by Tehran.

At a GCC summit held last month in Bahrain, the six-nation Gulf bloc tasked Kuwait with holding dialogue with Iran on its behalf.

Gulf States fear that Tehran’s controversial nuclear program poses a threat to regional security. Tehran, for its part, says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful in nature.

Tension has mounted between the Gulf and Iran since Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in early 2016.

The move came after two Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked by Iranian protesters following the execution by the Saudi authorities of a prominent Shia cleric.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies also accuse Tehran of arming and abetting Yemen’s Shia Houthi group, which overran Yemeni capital Sanaa -- and other parts of the country -- in 2014.

The almost six-year-old conflict in Syria has also contributed to the deterioration of Arab-Iranian relations.

While Shia Iran is a close ally of the Assad regime, Saudi Arabia is a primary backer of Syria’s armed opposition.