Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KUWAIT50
2007-01-15 14:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

TOP KUWAITI JOURNALIST CLAIMS U.S. TO STRIKE IRAN

Tags:  PREL PGOV IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8088
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHKU #0050 0151436
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 151436Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8052
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000050 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/IR AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS
SUBJECT: TOP KUWAITI JOURNALIST CLAIMS U.S. TO STRIKE IRAN
BEFORE APRIL

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reason 1.4 (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000050

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/IR AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS
SUBJECT: TOP KUWAITI JOURNALIST CLAIMS U.S. TO STRIKE IRAN
BEFORE APRIL

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reason 1.4 (d)


1. (SBU) In a January 14 editorial, one of Kuwait's top
journalists asserted that a U.S. strike on Iran would occur
before April. Quoting an unnamed "reliable source," Ahmed
Al-Jarallah, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Seyassah (local Arabic
daily) and the Arab Times (local English Daily),said top
administration officials recently held a meeting in which
they discussed in detail plans to attack Iran's oil
installations and nuclear facilities. He claimed the recent
deployment of a second U.S. aircraft carrier and Patriot
missile batteries to the Gulf were part of preparations for
the attack, which administration officials believed would
"create a new power balance in the region, calm down the
situation in Iraq, and pave the way for their democratic
project."


2. (C/NF) Al-Jarallah has a reputation for publishing
provocative front-page editorials. During a January 15
conversation with Poloff, Dr. Sami Al-Faraj, the Director of
the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies, dismissed
Al-Jarallah's latest editorial as "sensational." He added
that Al-Jarallah's paper, Al-Seyassah, is "not taken
seriously in Kuwait." In separate conversations, former
Minister of Information Dr. Saad bin Teflah and Kuwait
University Political Science Professor Dr. Abdullah Sahar
similarly dismissed Al-Jarallah's credibility as a reliable
source of information. Nonetheless, the article has created
a bit of a stir in Kuwait and Emboffs have been asked a
number of questions about it. In what might be a related
development, Speaker of Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi warned
against a military strike on Iran during a January 14 press
conference.


3. (C/NF) Comment: Al-Jarallah's article may have been
intended to influence the Kuwaiti leadership and public
opinion in advance of the GCC 2 meeting being held here this
week. Last November, Al-Jarallah wrote similarly provocative
editorials about then-current rumors that the Amir was
considering dissolving Parliament unconstitutionally. Some
suggested at the time that Al-Jarallah was attempting to
influence the Amir into making such a move.

********************************************* *
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