KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION: VIEWS ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR PLAN

UNCLAS KUWAIT 002191 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PREL PARM KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION: VIEWS ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR PLAN Block Quotes -------------- Saturday, June 10, 2006 -- Talal Abdul Karim Al-Arab commented in the progressive Arabic-language daily Al-Qabas under the title "Our destiny is not one with Iran's" (6/10): "Mr. Khatami said to the Arabian Gulf that whether we like it or not our destiny is one with Iran's. Through such statements, he wants us to share in his country's tribulations only. We never heard an Iranian official inviting us to join in Iran's jubilations. Iran is currently experiencing a crisis that it started with the international community and now it wants us to share in this crisis. At the same time, it sends signals filled with threats and intimidations in case of an attack against it. This is cause for distress and condemnation and points to its ill will." -- Lebanese JOURNALIST residing in London Khair Allah Khair Allah questioned in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "Iran, the American Offer, and Averting Catastrophe" (6/10): "To what extent can the Iranian regime oppose the international community concerning its nuclear program? Will it go to the end or accept the American offer aimed to assure the sole superpower and the international community that Iran is not joining the nuclear states club? It is quite clear that the United States seeks, when dealing with the Iranian regime, to avert the mistakes it committed before, during, and after the Iraq war. The evidence for this is that it seeks a unanimous international agreement on the offer it presented to Iran. Through this offer, [the U.S.] seeks to bring both China and Russia's positions closer to its own positions against Iran in the Security Council." ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * TUELLER