US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT3726

S E C R E T KUWAIT 003726 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
EB/ESC/IEC FOR DOWDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2014 
TAGS: PREL, EPET, KU, IR, IZ 
SUBJECT: KUWAITI PRIME MINISTER WARNS IRANIANS OVER 
CONTINUED URANIUM ENRICHMENT 
 
REF: A. 03 KUWAIT 5719 
     B. 03 KUWAIT 5756 
     C. KUWAIT 3544 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (S)  A senior official in the Prime Minister's Diwan told 
Poloff on October 31 that Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah 
al-Ahmed warned Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi during 
his October 25 visit to Kuwait that Iran should "look at 
Iraq" as an example of what happens to countries that defy 
the will of the international community.  During the course 
of a four hour meeting between the two, the official reported 
the Iranians repeatedly stressed that their enrichment 
activities were for peaceful purposes only and would not, 
under any circumstances, be halted.  He said the Iranian 
Foreign Minister insisted that Iran had a right to pursue 
alternative energy sources, and in response to the Prime 
Minister's comments, replied that "Iraq was different." 
 
2. (S) On Iraq, the official relayed that FM Kharazi told the 
Kuwaiti PM that "(Iran) had fixed the problems in Najaf and 
Karbala," and that achieving stability in Iraq was an Iranian 
objective.  The official said there was no discussion by 
either party of press reports of mass IRGC and MOIS 
infiltrations along the Iran-Iraq border (ref C). 
 
3. (C) When queried on the status of possible gas and water 
pipeline deals between Kuwait and Iran (refs A and B), the 
official asserted, "This will never happen." 
 
4. (S) Comment:  The Iranian remarks about Najaf and Karbala, 
while not specific, constitute an implicit confession of 
Iranian meddling in central and southern Iraq.  As for 
Kuwaiti-Iranian relations, the lack of frank talk between the 
two parties, coupled with our source's assertion that Kuwait 
would "never" ink a commercial deal with Iran -- even for 
desperately needed gas -- indicates the deep mistrust which 
still characterizes the Kuwaiti-Iranian bilateral 
relationship. 
 
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LeBaron