TOP KUWAITI JOURNALIST CLAIMS "US TO ATTACK IRAN

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000486 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/IR AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS SUBJECT: TOP KUWAITI JOURNALIST CLAIMS "US TO ATTACK IRAN BY END APRIL" REF: KUWAIT 50 ¶1. (SBU) In an April 4 editorial, one of Kuwait's leading journalists claimed inside information that the U.S. was planning to attack Iran's nuclear facilities by the end of April. Quoting unnamed sources in Washington, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, the Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times (English daily) and Al-Seyassah (Arabic daily),said "various White House departments have already started preparing the political speech, which will be delivered by the President of the United States later this month, announcing the military attack on Iran." According to Al-Jarallah, Iran's support of militias involved in killings of American soldiers in Iraq and Iranian actions in "Somalia, the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Lebanon" would be among the justifications for the attack outlined in the speech. Al-Jarallah claimed the strike would be limited to Iran's nuclear facilities and would not be accompanied by a corresponding U.S. ground attack. Citing Russian news reports, Al-Jarallah noted comments by Russian officials on the difficulty of a military strike against Iran and the potential negative political ramifications. He also reported that "Russian media late last month quoted unnamed sources in Russian military intelligence as saying the United States could launch a strike against Iran as early as April." ¶2. (SBU) Comment: Al-Jarallah wrote an almost identical article in January, in which he asserted that the U.S. would attack Iran "before April" (reftel). Most of the more sophisticated Al-Seyassah readers dismissed that article as "sensational," and are unlikely to take this latest one any more seriously. Unfortunately, such provocative articles feed into the growing sense in Kuwait that a U.S. attack on Iran is imminent. End comment. ********************************************* * 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