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| Kuwait says it is to expel unspecified number of Iranian diplomats for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran. |
Iran has denounced Kuwait's announcement to expel a number of Iranian diplomats for alleged spying that dates back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, in a fresh blow for Arab-Persian ties across the Gulf.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Sabah told reporters on Thursday that his country was to expel an unspecified number of Iranian diplomats for alleged links to a spy ring which had reportedly been working for Tehran ever since the invasion of Iraq.
"There will be action against a group of Iranian diplomats... They will be considered persona non grata and expelled from Kuwait," he said.
The foreign minister charged that the diplomats had proven links to the suspected spy ring, three members of which a Kuwaiti court condemned to death to Tuesday.
'Conspiracy plot'
Iran dismissed the Kuwaiti claims as baseless and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the Islamic republic did not interfere in Kuwait's internal affairs, Iran's official news agency reported on Thursday.
Salehi, in a telephone conversation with his Kuwaiti counterpart, also dismissed as a "conspiracy" the death sentences issued on Tuesday by a Kuwait City court.
"The old issue raised by a court in Kuwait and linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran is a plan pursued by those malevolent (forces) who do not desire good relations between the two countries," Salehi said.
"This (plan) is nothing but a conspiracy aimed at creating discord between Islamic countries in the region," he added, IRNA reported.
The two officials also agreed to "continue consultations to resolve the raised misunderstandings," IRNA said.
The three men condemned to death, two Iranians and a Kuwaiti, were all serving in Kuwait's army when they were arrested in May 2010.
