IRAN: KUWAIT FOREIGN MINISTER MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000270 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017 TAGS: PREL PINR IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS SUBJECT: IRAN: KUWAIT FOREIGN MINISTER MEETING WITH AHMEDINEJAD REF: KUWAIT 183 Classified By: Charge d,Affaires, a.i. Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On February 19 in a meeting with Charge, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said the primary purpose of the recent meeting between Kuwait Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah and Iranian President Ahmedinejad (February 13-14) had been to deliver a message on behalf of the Amir. Al-Jarallah said the FM told Ahmedinejad that the Government of Iran (GOI) must deal with the nuclear program issue in a positive and realistic way, noting that the GOI can not face the challenges in the region effectively while struggling with the international community on the nuclear issue. Al-Jarallah said that the FM and Ahmedinejad also discussed Iranian interference in Iraq and Iranian support for Hamas but did not offer details. ¶2. (C) Al-Jarallah said the two leaders also discussed the formation of a joint committee to deal with outstanding bilateral issues, including their maritime border and development of the Dorra gas field. (Note: Kuwait and Iran continue to dispute ownership of the gas-rich Al-Dorra offshore gas field in the continental shelf area of the northern gulf. The dispute goes back to the 1960s when Kuwait and Iran awarded overlapping concessions in the northern part of the gas field. Kuwait signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia in July 2000 to share the offshore resources but has been unable to reach a similar accord with Iran. See Reftel for further details). Ahmedinejad said that the GOI would deal with Kuwait in a positive way through the committee, but Al-Jarallah said the GOK was not optimistic about the likely effectiveness of the committee based on GOI failure to follow through on past promises of cooperation. Al-Jarallah said working the gas field issue trilaterally, with Saudi Arabia, would likely lead to more progress by putting more pressure on Iran. GCC 2 meeting -------------- ¶3. (C) Charge informed Al-Jarallah of Secretary Rice's on-going support for the GCC 2 process and her interest in attending another meeting of the group in the very near future. Al-Jarallah said that the GOK was pleased with the last GCC 2 meeting in January and welcomed the convening of another session. ********************************************* * 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