Habib Toumi

Iran has appointed the head of the foreign ministry’s Gulf directorate as its new ambassador to Kuwait.

Jalal Fairooz will replace incumbent envoy Ali Jennati next month.

“Tehran is obviously seeking to consolidate its relations with the countries in the region by appointing experts and specialists in the area in order to win the support of Arab countries in its standoff with the West, particularly over the nuclear issue,” sources said.

The sources said that Kuwait had accepted the nomination and that Jalal Fairooz had good rapports with Kuwaiti officials. continue reading…

Iran’s ambassador in Bahrain has denied reports that spy cells in the Gulf were working for Iranian Revolution Guards as “blatant and malicious lies.”

“Allegations about networks connected with the Revolutionary Guards in the Islamic Republic of Iran and working in some neighbouring countries such as Kuwait or Bahrain or any other country in the region are fabricated, malicious and unfounded reports that lack credibility,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian said. “Any accusation against anyone of being linked with Iran is baseless. We unequivocally and categorically reject the existence of such links between any person or entity or an institution of the Islamic Republic of Iran with any person in any Gulf country,” the envoy said, quoted by Bahraini daily Al Wasat. continue reading…

Tehran has suggested that Kuwait and Iran drop the visas required from their nationals when they visit each other’s country, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported.

The Iranian request was made during a meeting between officials from the foreign ministries of both countries.

The Kuwaitis promised to look into the suggestion and report their decision to the Iranian authorities.

A similar request had been put forward by Mustafa Dhul Qadr, the Iranian head of the parliamentary Iran-Kuwait friendship committee. continue reading…

Qatar has secured membership on the United Nations Human Rights Council after Iran withdrew its candidacy for a seat on the 47-nation council responsible for monitoring rights around the globe.

The Maldives, Thailand and Malaysia have also secured their place among the 13 Asian countries days before the elections of members for the four vacant Asian seats.

“With the withdrawal of Iran, there are no longer any contested ballots,” Qatar News Agency (QNA) quoted a human rights official as saying.

Diplomats said that Tehran had pulled out from the five-nation race after it felt that it might not secure enough votes to win one of the four seats allocated for Asia.

A failure would have been highly embarrassing for Iran when council elections take place on May 13. continue reading…

Bahrain has advised Iran to work on avoiding international political isolation and assert itself as an efficient member of the global community.

“Iran should act moderately, responsibly and rationally to remain an effective and interactive member in the international community. This is Bahrain’s wish as outlined by His Majesty the King,” Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa told Iranian Vice President’s Deputy for Coordination and Economic Affairs, Ali Aqa-Mohammadi. “Bahrain is ready to help achieve this status.”

The Iranian official headed a high-profile business delegation that visited Bahrain to advance talks on a project to import Iranian gas supplies.

Prince Salman lauded the pioneering civilisational and cultural roles Iran has assumed for centuries and the sacrifices it made as it selected its way forward. continue reading…

Bin Rajab at his majlis on Friday - Al Bilad

A Bahraini minister has denied involvement in a money-laundering scheme, saying that reports of his arrest and interrogation were not true and lacked credibility.

Addressing visitors to his weekly majlis (open house), Mansoor Bin Rajab, a state minister without portfolio, said that he had been called in by the interior ministry to answer questions about his ministry staff.

“I was called by the Criminal Investigations Directorate and not by the Public Prosecution and they asked me a few questions before I went back home,” Bin Rajab said. “They were very fine with me and treated me well. When I returned home, I resumed my daily routine and here I am opening my majlis for my regular visitors,” he said.

However, when pressed to say whether he would be attending the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, the minister said that it would be up to the country’s leaders to decide on the issue. He also denied a report that he felt uneasy during the questioning and that a nurse was rushed to his side, saying they were rumours. “You can look at me. I am in good condition and I never felt unwell,” he said.

According to Al Ayam daily, the minister was released on the grounds of his health. continue reading…

Rasmussen highlighting NATO's stance on various issues

NATO, the world’s largest military alliance, would consider Iran a threat if it acquired the nuclear capacity, the organisation’s secretary general has said.
“While NATO as such is not involved in the Iran issue, we support the international endeavours to find a political and diplomatic solution. But if Iran at a certain stage actually acquires the nuclear capacity, then we would consider it a threat against the alliance,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Gulf News. “This is also the reason we are currently considering the establishment of a missile defence system that we can start to deploy by 2011 and then it will be gradually developed.”
The system will be set up in Europe, and will cover all NATO allies.
“The Americans are of course in the lead, but according to their new approach and plans, the missile defence system will be developed within a NATO framework and it can cover all allies, so that all European allies can be protected by the missile defence system,” he said.

Rasmussen who was elected to the top post last year, blamed Taliban for causing the death of many innocent civilians.
“I have to say that a huge majority of the casualties are caused by the Taliban, and I base this on statistics from the United Nations. We know that Taliban use innocent civilians, women and children, as human shields on routes, in windows and elsewhere,” he said. continue reading…

Ali Larijani

A Kuwaiti MP has blasted Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani for his alleged threats to the Arabian Gulf states, saying that he had failed to respect his hosts and that he behaved like a master with his slaves. “His statement lacked the necessary respect for the host country and for its parliament. The problem is that his threat to strike the Gulf states in case of an attack on Iran was uttered inside the Kuwaiti parliament,” MP Faisal Al Mislim said.

During a visit to Kuwait earlier this month, Larijani said that “states in the region that house US military bases should know that these bases must not be used against Iran. The region should not become a launchpad for aggression against Iran.” The parliament speaker however said that Iran “does not want to inflict any harm on the GCC states,” and charged that the United States was scaring the Gulf from Iran to promote its presence in the region.

But for Al Mislim, Larjiani’s words were “full of threats and menaces.” “The language used by Larijani was similar to the one used by teachers with their students or rather by a master with his slaves,” he was quoted as saying by Kuwait daily Al Rai. Al Mislim said that Kuwait has always refused to allow the use of its lands to strike Iran and that this position was known to everybody. “Iran has voiced its stance long before Larijani arrived here and our official and popular position opposes US strikes against Iran. We have never been warmongers and we hope that the Iranians are not attacked by the Americans,” he said. continue reading…

Shaikh Khalid with Clinton in Washington - BNA

Bahrain’s foreign minister and a senior official have defended their country’s right to protect itself and insisted that Iran should not see the missile shield deployment as a measure to attack any country.

During a press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa on Wednesday said that the protections measures have been in place for decades, but are now being improved, without seeking to threaten anyone.

“We’re not seeing anything new, nobody’s sabre-rattling here, nobody is being belligerent to anyone in the region. It’s just a purely defensive measure for the benefit of the whole world, for the region being so important to the whole world,” Shaikh Khalid said.

The US administration on Monday said that it boost the protection capabilities of its Gulf allies by upgrade defence possibilities in the region. Iran immediately poured scorn on the decision, and Ali Larijani, the parliament speaker, dismissed the American missile shield as an American “puppet show” and a new political ploy to pave the way to increase its military strength in the region.

However, Shaikh Khalid said that the deployment was not an antagonistic measure. continue reading…

Patriot missile being launched

Tension is heightening up dramatically in the Gulf amid plans by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to reinvigorate their security agreements in anticipation of a military confrontation in the region and Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani criticised blasting the US deployment in the Gulf as a “puppet show” and a “political fraud.”

According to a Kuwaiti daily, the GCC countries are working on invigorating a security agreement in anticipation of any deterioration of the situation in the region in the wake of the recent Iran-US escalation.

“The heads of the security forces in the GCC are planning a meeting to coordinate their efforts to confront any emergency following the announcement that the US is deploying a missile shield in the Gulf and moving ships into the Gulf to protect allies against constant Iranian threats to undermine security in the region,” Al Jareeda reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed “well-informed” sources. “It is obvious that any declaration from Washington or Tehran on the situation of the region is taken seriously.” continue reading…