Iranian FM Rejects Interference in Kuwait, Yemen

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi categorically denied accusations about Tehran’s spying on Kuwait and its interference in Yemen’s internal affairs.

“If we had ever wanted to intervene or spy on Kuwait, we would have done it when the country was at its weakest point after it was invaded by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (in early 1990s),” Salehi said in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai on Sunday.

Several individuals have gone on trial in Kuwait in the last few years on charges of spying for Iran. Tehran has strongly rejected the accusations on several occasions.

Salehi further noted the recent allegations about Iran’s interference in Yemen’s domestic affairs through the country’s Shiite community, saying Iran’s support for Yemen’s Houthi community is merely spiritual.

“If Iran supports the Houthis, this support is spiritual. We cannot have access to Yemen, but others can even get to that country by car,” the Iranian foreign minister said.

In similar remarks last month, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said the allegations about Tehran’s interference in Yemen’s internal affairs are part of the US and Israel’s worn-out scenario to demonize Iran in the region.

“This is part of a US-Zionist worn-out plot which is aimed at portraying the Islamic Republic as a danger and a source of concern for the regional countries,” Mehman-Parast said in an exclusive interview with FNA.

Mehman-Parast, however, said accusing Iran of interference in the other countries’ domestic affairs is an “ineffective” policy.

He stated that the trans-regional countries and their military presence in the region as well as their interference in the internal affairs of the regional countries have created “serious problems” for the region, and called for comprehensive efforts to pave the ground for the withdrawal of the trans-regional forces from the sensitive region of the Middle-East.