KUWAITI PRIME MINISTER WARNS IRANIANS OVER

S E C R E T KUWAIT 003726 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI EB/ESC/IEC FOR DOWDY E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2014 TAGS: PREL EPET KU IR IZ SUBJECT: KUWAITI PRIME MINISTER WARNS IRANIANS OVER CONTINUED URANIUM ENRICHMENT REF: A. 03 KUWAIT 5719 ¶B. 03 KUWAIT 5756 ¶C. KUWAIT 3544 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) A senior official in the Prime Minister's Diwan told Poloff on October 31 that Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmed warned Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi during his October 25 visit to Kuwait that Iran should "look at Iraq" as an example of what happens to countries that defy the will of the international community. During the course of a four hour meeting between the two, the official reported the Iranians repeatedly stressed that their enrichment activities were for peaceful purposes only and would not, under any circumstances, be halted. He said the Iranian Foreign Minister insisted that Iran had a right to pursue alternative energy sources, and in response to the Prime Minister's comments, replied that "Iraq was different." ¶2. (S) On Iraq, the official relayed that FM Kharazi told the Kuwaiti PM that "(Iran) had fixed the problems in Najaf and Karbala," and that achieving stability in Iraq was an Iranian objective. The official said there was no discussion by either party of press reports of mass IRGC and MOIS infiltrations along the Iran-Iraq border (ref C). ¶3. (C) When queried on the status of possible gas and water pipeline deals between Kuwait and Iran (refs A and B),the official asserted, "This will never happen." ¶4. (S) Comment: The Iranian remarks about Najaf and Karbala, while not specific, constitute an implicit confession of Iranian meddling in central and southern Iraq. As for Kuwaiti-Iranian relations, the lack of frank talk between the two parties, coupled with our source's assertion that Kuwait would "never" ink a commercial deal with Iran -- even for desperately needed gas -- indicates the deep mistrust which still characterizes the Kuwaiti-Iranian bilateral relationship. ********************************************* Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website ********************************************* LeBaron