Iran and Kuwait to return ambassadors

[News_Editor]

Iran and Kuwait to return ambassadors

2011-05-19 04:19:57 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) -- Iran and Kuwait on Wednesday decided to resume ambassadorial activities following a short diplomatic standoff, the semi-official Fars News agency reported.

Kuwait's National Assembly Speaker Jassem Mohammad al-Kharafi told reporters after a meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi that both countries decided to send back their top diplomats, apparently ending the recent misunderstandings between the two Persian Gulf littoral states. He added that both countries would also soon establish a joint high commission.

During his visit, Salehi met with high-ranking Kuwaiti officials to discuss political and economic relations between the two countries as well as the latest developments and popular uprisings in the region.

In May 2010, Kuwaiti media outlets alleged that security officials had arrested a team of spies with links to Iran. Almost a year later, Kuwait sentenced two Iranians and a Kuwaiti citizen to death for being part of the Iranian spy cell.

Iran's foreign ministry responded to the allegation and denied Iran's involvement. A statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Bureau denounced the act, saying it was "totally unfounded".

Following the court decree, the Kuwaiti government expelled a number of Iranian diplomats from the country, alleging that they had links to a spy network. The officers have been allegedly gathering information about the US military bases in Kuwait and passing it on to Iran.



Iran reciprocated the action with firing a number of Kuwaiti diplomats.

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