KUWAIT: Kuwait has protested to Lebanon over the alleged training by Hezbollah of 21 Shiites convicted last month on charges of forming a “terror cell” in the Sunni-majority emirate.
It demanded that pressure be put on the Shiite militant group, which has ministers in the Lebanese government, to ensure there was no repetition.
The protest follows Kuwait’s expulsion of 15 Iranian diplomats on Thursday over Tehran’s alleged links to those convicted.
The letter delivered by Kuwait’s ambassador in Beirut late on Friday said the emirate’s supreme court had found that “Hezbollah took part in contacts, coordinating meetings, paid funds and provided arms and military training in Lebanon” for the defendants.
It called on Lebanon to take “the necessary measures to curb these disgraceful practices” by Hezbollah as it is a partner in the government, ambassador Abdulaal Al-Quenai told the official KUNA news agency.
Unlike neighboring Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, Kuwait maintains diplomatic relations with Shiite Iran.
But sectarian issues remain sensitive. Shiites make up around one third of the emirate’s population.
Kuwait protests to Lebanon over Hezbollah
Kuwait protests to Lebanon over Hezbollah
One killed in attack on oil tankers off Iraq, rescue operation ongoing: authorities
- Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had “deep concern” about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf, without providing details
BAGHDAD: An attack on two oil tankers near Iraq killed at least one crew member, authorities said on Thursday, as Iran carries out a campaign to disrupt global energy markets.
Farhan Al-Fartousi, from Iraq’s General Company for Ports, told state television that one crew member had been killed and 38 rescued while the “search continues for the missing.”
He did not specify the crew members’ nationalities or provide details on who was behind the attack, which occurred roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the coast.
The Iraqi government’s media cell told national news agency INA that “two tankers were subject to sabotage.”
Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had “deep concern” about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf, without providing details.
“The safety of navigation in international maritime corridors and energy supply routes must remain free from regional conflicts,” the ministry added.
The Strait of Hormuz — the waterway carrying a fifth of the world’s oil — remains closed to almost all oil tankers, and Iran has vowed that not one liter of oil would be exported from the Gulf while its war with the United States and Israel continues.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that US forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels more than a week into the Middle East war.
Images of a ship at sea with plumes of smoke rising from a huge fire, were broadcast by state television channel Al-Ikhbariya. AFP could not verify the images.
An employee at Iraq’s Basra oil terminal told AFP that it was unclear “whether it was a drone attack or explosive-laden boats.”
The Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) confirmed in a statement that two oil tankers were attacked, without providing details on how.
Maltese-flagged oil tanker ZEFYROS was attacked as it was preparing to enter the port of Khor Al-Zoubair, where it would have taken on board an additional 30,000 tons of liquid naphtha — primarily used in petrochemicals, SOMO said.
The second targeted vessel, SAFESEA VISHNU, was sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and was chartered by an Iraqi company, according to SOMO.
The incidents come just hours after the US embassy in Baghdad warned that Iran and Tehran-backed Iraqi armed groups might target US-owned oil facilities in Iraq.
