SENIOR KUWAITI SHI'A CLERIC SAYS IRANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000630

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI - BERNS AND BRUDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS
SUBJECT: SENIOR KUWAITI SHI'A CLERIC SAYS IRANIAN
"REFORMERS" MARGINALIZED; AHMADINEJAD TO REMAIN

REF: A. KUWAIT 224

B. 05 KUWAIT 5137

Classified By: DCM Matt Tueller for reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary and comment: Senior Kuwaiti Shi'a cleric
Sayed Mohammed Baqer Al-Mohri told Poloff in a February 21
meeting that Iranian "reformers" had been politically
marginalized by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and exercised
little restraint on the President's conservative policies.
He discounted reports that Ahmadinejad's personal religious
beliefs significantly influenced his political policies. He
also argued that international pressure on Iran only
increased support for Ahmadinejad and allowed him to rally
Iranians around the regime by shifting focus away from
domestic problems. Al-Mohri "ruled out completely" the
existence of a militant arm of "Kuwaiti Hizbollah," a
pejorative term commonly used to refer to conservative
Kuwaiti Shi'a, and dismissed the possibility of
Iranian-backed terrorist attacks in Kuwait. Al-Mohri
believed his suspension from preaching by the Ministry of
Awqaf was due to his recent "statement" calling on the new
Education Minister to reform the educational curriculum by
removing anti-Shi'a, "Takfireen" texts. End summary and
comment.

"Reformers" Marginalized; Ahmadinejad to Stay
--------------


2. (C) Sayed Al-Mohri, a senior Kuwaiti Shi'a cleric, told
Poloff in a February 21 meeting that Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had replaced most "reformers and those
aligned with (former President Mohammed) Khatami" in the
Iranian government with his supporters, giving reformers far
less influence on Iranian policy. As an example, he
mentioned Hassan Marashi, whom Al-Mohri said was "in charge
of tourism" under Khatami and was a vocal opponent of
conservative policies. Al-Mohri, who claims to have close
ties to many of Iran's top leaders, predicted Ahmadinejad
would remain in power until the next presidential elections,
but would not be re-elected. (Comment: In a December 2005
meeting with Poloff (ref B),Al-Mohri predicted Ahmadinejad
would be replaced by someone more "moderate" within six
months. End comment.) Al-Mohri said Ahmadinejad was
supported by "Iranian youth, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC),and the Basij (a conservative "volunteer" corps
created to defend the Iranian Revolution)," but noted that
"these groups do not represent all Iranians." He argued that
international pressure on Iran only increased support for
Ahmadinejad and allowed him to rally Iranians around the
regime by shifting focus away from domestic problems.


3. (C) Al-Mohri claimed Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei had "good relations," but
avoided saying Khamenei backed Ahmadinejad's controversial
policies; instead, he noted vaguely that Khamenei "did not
support all of the President's statements." He said
Ahmadinejad and former President Rafsanjani had poor
relations. Al-Mohri downplayed the influence of
Ahmadinejad's personal religious beliefs, specifically his
reported belief in the imminent return of the Mahdi (the
Messianic figure in Shi'a theology),on Iranian policy. He
noted, however, that Ahmadinejad was recently reported as
saying he believed he would become a "martyr" in two years, a
comment Al-Mohri found "weird." According to Al-Mohri, the
political influence of conservative Iranian cleric Ayatollah
Mohammed Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi is limited to his students.

"Kuwaiti Hizbollah" Not a Threat
--------------


4. (C) Al-Mohri responded to a question about Iranian
influence in Kuwait, specifically the activities of a group
some term "Kuwaiti Hizbollah," by referring to members of the
National Islamic Alliance (NIA),a conservative Shi'a
political association whose power he said had significantly
diminished over the past several years as evidenced by their
loss of representation in Parliament. Al-Mohri "ruled out
completely" the existence of a militant arm of "Kuwaiti
Hizbollah" and dismissed the possibility of Iranian-backed
terrorist attacks in Kuwait. "Don't forget, they ("Kuwaiti
Hizbollah") are Kuwaiti first and don't want to lose their
privileges," he said. (Comment: "Kuwaiti Hizbollah" is a
pejorative term applied primarily by Kuwait State Security to
Shi'a it considers to be militant. There is no political or
religious group in Kuwait calling itself Kuwaiti Hizbollah.
End comment.)

Al-Mohri Suspended for "Political" Statements
--------------

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5. (U) On February 20, the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious
Affairs suspended Al-Mohri from preaching because of a recent
"Friday sermon" in which he addressed political as well as
religious topics, allegedly in violation of an Amiri decree,
according to local press reports. Al-Mohri said the
suspension would be effective from October 17, 2006; no end
date was given. He was unclear on the reason for the delayed
start of the suspension. Local press reported, however, that
Al-Mohri will be unable to preach as of this Friday. A
letter sent to Al-Mohri by the Ministry gave the following
reasons for his suspension: "addressing political, rather
than religious issues (in his sermon); attacking government
ministries; interfering in the country's internal affairs in
an unsuitable way; attacking and not respecting historical
Islamic figures; contributing to sectarianism and undermining
the national unity; and inappropriately criticizing political
issues and countries."


6. (C) Al-Mohri believed the suspension was in response to a
"statement" he had made calling on the new Education Minister
to revise the curriculum, specifically removing text teaching
that Shi'a are "infidels" and lessons on Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef
Al-Thaqafi, who he said was a "controversial Islamic
terrorist figure." He said texts by Kuwait University
professor Shaykh Bassam Al-Shatti and Shaykh Nathem Al-Mesbah
were particularly offensive. Al-Mohri also called for the
curriculum to include teachings on the traditions of Imam
Ali.

Bio Note
--------------


7. (C) Al-Mohri is a leading Shi'a cleric in Kuwait and the
Secretary General of the Shi'a Clerics Gathering, a Shi'a

SIPDIS
political association. He is the "unofficial" representative
of Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani and Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Kuwait. He also claims to
have close relations with former Iranian Presidents Khatami
and Rafsanjani, both of whom he said he met on trips to Iran.
Al-Mohri explained that while many people think he is from
Iran, his family is originally from Ihsa' in Saudi Arabia.
He said he was "surprised" by radical Iraqi "cleric" Moqtada
Al-Sadr's visit to his diwaniya (traditional gathering)
during a recent trip to Kuwait (ref A),and claimed that he
does not have any connections with Al-Sadr. He speaks fluent
Arabic and Farsi, but no English.

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