FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSES IRAN-US TALKS; ATTACK

S E C R E T KUWAIT 001009 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/26/2017 TAGS: PREL PINR IR IZ KU SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSES IRAN-US TALKS; ATTACK ON DIPLOMAT IN TEHRAN REF: KUWAIT 964 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: During a June 26 meeting with Ambassador, Foreign Minister (FM) Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah said Iranian officials had provided their views on the recent meeting in Baghdad between the U.S. and Iranian Ambassadors to Iraq and he had received a letter from Iranian FM Mottaki about the meeting. Ambassador said that the U.S. response to Iranian interest in future meetings would depend on Iran's actions in Iraq. Regarding the recent attack on a Kuwaiti diplomat in Iran, FM Al-Sabah said Kuwait had recalled its diplomatic staff from Tehran except for the Ambassador and Defense Attache, and had requested a written apology from Iran. He said that men who attacked the Kuwaiti diplomat referred to a previous incident involving an Iranian diplomat in Kuwait. In a separate meeting with PolOff, a Kuwait MFA official recounted the same Iranian accusation. End summary. ¶2. (S/NF) At a June 26 meeting with Ambassador, Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah inquired about the May 28 meeting between the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq. He said that the Iranians had provided to the Government of Kuwait their views on the meeting and that he had received a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki on the subject. In response to the Minister's query about future meetings between Iran and the U.S., Ambassador noted that there had been no U.S. response and that the decision on future meetings would be informed by Iran's actions in Iraq. ¶3. (S/NF) Regarding the recent beating of a Kuwaiti diplomat in Tehran, the Minister said that, following the attack, their Embassy in Tehran had received a threat from the organization Ansar Al-Allah which accused the diplomats of spying for the United States on an Iranian nuclear project and pledged to drive them out of Iran. He added that the Iranian response to their request for increased security had been unsatisfactory and that the GOK had withdrawn all of its diplomats from Iran except for the Ambassador and the Defense Attache. (Four diplomats were withdrawn.) The Minister said that the GOK had asked for a written apology and assurances that no further attacks would occur. ¶4. (S/NF) The Minister said the men who attacked the Kuwaiti diplomat had referred to an incident involving an Iranian diplomat in Kuwait (reftel). The Minister said this same accusation had been made to Kuwait MFA U/S Khaled Al-Jarallah by Iranian Ambassador to Kuwait Ali Al-Jannati. The Kuwaitis told the Iranians that they would launch an investigation of the incident once the Iranians supplied complete details about it. Such data has not been supplied. ¶5. (S/NF) In a separate meeting June 27, MFA Iran Desk Officer Mansour Al-Oulaimi (strictly protect) told POLOFF that the attackers had filmed the beating in Tehran, and shown some sort of identification to diplomatic police and ambulance personnel that dissuaded them from intervening. Shortly after the incident, a crowd of angry Iranians surrounded the house of another Kuwaiti diplomat, prompting a GOK decision to withdraw its entire diplomatic mission from Iran, including the Ambassador. However, after diplomats from several GCC countries intervened and urged Kuwait not to escalate the situation, the GOK decided to send most of its mission staff to Kuwait but to have the Ambassador and Defense Attache remain, Oulaimi reported. He confirmed that Kuwait had received several threatening letters since, including one from "Iranian Hizballah." ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * LeBaron