Kuwait’s foreign minister announced that Islamic Republic diplomats have been expelled from the country.
Agence France Presse reports that Sheik Mohammad al-Sabbah said in Abu Dhabi that the Iranian diplomats were expelled for spying in Kuwait.
On March 31 Kuwait announced that three Iranian diplomats have to leave Kuwait for charges of spying. Kuwaiti foreign minister linked the diplomats with a Revolutionary Guards spying ring.
Prior to that two Iranians and a Kuwaiti were sentenced to death for charge of espionage. Kuwaiti media wrote that while the prisoners had confessed to the crimes earlier, they denied the charges in court and claimed the confessions were extracted from them under torture.
Following reports that “an Iranian spying network” has been exposed in Kuwait, Kuwaiti parliament has called for the expulsion of Iranian ambassador.
The Islamic Republic has denied all the charges and in a tit for tat move, expelled three Kuwaiti diplomats.
Tensions between Iran and the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region have intensified in the past month.
Iran has harshly criticized the crackdown on protesters in Bahrain and the presence of Saudi forces to crush the uprising.
Gulf Cooperation Council members, which is made up of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE, have accused Iran of meddling in their internal affairs and conspiring against their national security.