Iran said that the IRGC officers had entered Kuwaiti waters by accident and accused Kuwait of exploiting them [Getty]
Iran has rejected what it described as “baseless allegations” after Kuwait announced that it had foiled a plot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to infiltrate the Gulf country.
The Kuwaiti interior ministry said on Tuesday that four men it had arrested, who it said were two navy colonels, a captain, and a lieutenant commander, had admitted they had been tasked by the IRGC with “infiltrating” Bubiyan Island.
The Iranian foreign ministry, however, strongly condemned the Kuwaiti government’s “inappropriate behaviour”, accusing Kuwait of “political and media exploitation” of four Iranian military personnel.
It said they were carrying out their duties as part of a routine maritime patrol and entered Kuwaiti territorial waters due to a malfunction in their navigation system.
Bubiyan is Kuwait’s largest island and is located near the coast of Iran. Kuwait’s interior said that the group of four men had attempted to enter on 1 May “aboard a fishing boat specially chartered to carry out hostile actions against Kuwait”.
The Kuwaiti foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to hand him a letter of protest.
However, the Iranian ministry said that Tehran’s policy was based on “respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region, including Kuwait”.
It added that it expects the Kuwaiti authorities to avoid making “hasty statements and unfounded allegations”, and instead address existing issues through official channels.
The ministry also said that Kuwait must allow Iran’s embassy in the country access, as soon as possible, to the detained Iranian citizens in accordance with what it said was international law.
Since the US-Israel war on Iran began on 28 February, Iran has launched hundreds of drone strikes on Kuwait, saying it was targeting US interests in the Gulf country.
