AMBASSADOR CRITICIZED FOR REITERATING U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 002485

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM KU IR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CRITICIZED FOR REITERATING U.S.
POSITION ON IRAN


Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary and Comment: Led by National Assembly Speaker
Jassem Al-Khorafi, a few Kuwaiti political figures have
criticized the Ambassador's May 25 speech to the Kuwaiti
Ministry of Defense Command and Staff College. The public
release of the speech, in which the Ambassador reiterated
U.S. concern that Iran's pursuit of nuclear and other weapons
of mass destruction was a threat to regional security,
coincided with the visit to Kuwait of Iranian Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Mohammed Reza Asefi, and was seen by some
Kuwaitis as inflammatory. The criticism also coincides with
the downgrading of Kuwait's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) rank
and placement on the USTR's Special 301 Priority Watchlist,
decisions that have not been well received by the GOK or the
public. The Ambassador's remarks hewed closely to official
USG policy and are of no substantive surprise to the GOK. It
is likely that the criticism by Speaker Khorafi is meant as
much to placate the Government of Iran as to chastise the
U.S. The Kuwaiti Ambassador to Tehran told Poloff June 5
(septel) that the GOK is "very, very concerned" about
possible Iranian nuclear weapon development. In addition,
the timing of the speech, corresponding with two
announcements widely seen as critical of Kuwait and the visit
of an Iranian official, has no doubt added to any sense of
injury felt by the GOK or its citizens. The remarks by the
Ambassador can be found at
http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/may 25 2005.html. End Comment
and Summary.


2. (SBU) Speaking to local dailies on June 4, National
Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi characterized the
Ambassador's May 25 speech to the Kuwait Ministry of Defense
Command and Staff College as "interference" in Kuwait's
bilateral relationship with Iran. Bemoaning the Defense
Ministry's invitation to the U.S. Ambassador to speak to
graduating students -- an annual occurrence -- the Speaker
said others "should not interfere in our affairs and should
not transfer their conflicts with other countries to Kuwait."
The Speaker's remarks came after Defense Minister Shaykh
Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah's June 2 statement to local dailies
that the Ambassador's remarks did not reflect the views of
the Defense Ministry. The speech, referencing POTUS'
February 2 State of the Union address, had called upon Iran
to "give up its uranium enrichment program, and any plutonium
reprocessing, and end its support of terror."


3. (C) Visiting Kuwaiti Ambassador to Tehran, Majed Al-Difiri
(strictly protect),told Poloff and PolMiloff June 4 that the
decision to allow the printing of the Ambassador,s speech in
local dailies during Asefi's visit was a mistake, and
unnecessarily aggravated the GOK, although the message may
have been appropriate for the audience to which it was
originally given. He said that the GOK was concerned that
the United States not involve it in its disagreements with
Iran. In a conversation with Poloff and PolMiloff on June 5,
Sayed Mohammed Baqer Al-Mohri, head of Kuwait's Shiite
Clerics Congregation, concurred. Al-Mohri said Kuwait is a
"small and weak state" whose international relations strategy
involves delicately balancing its national security
interests, and it could not afford to become a front line in
the U.S.-Iranian conflict.


4. (U) The Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign
Relations Committee, outspoken reformer Mohammed Jassem
Al-Sager, defended the Ambassador's remarks during a June 5
press conference. Al-Sager said the Ambassador's comments
reflect the views of the U.S. government and thus cannot be
interpreted as interference in Kuwait's affairs.


5. (SBU) The criticism of the Ambassador's remarks followed
closely the June 3 announcement that Kuwait and other Gulf
allies were ranked as Tier 3 countries in the Department's
2005 TIP report, as well as the April 29 re-listing of Kuwait
on the USTR's 301 Priority Watch List for IPR infringements.
Both announcements and the speech earned criticism from local
English daily The Kuwait Times, which published a June 5
article entitled: "With Friends Like These: US policies
aggravate relations with Kuwait."

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LEBARON