July 22, The Iran Project An Iranian parliamentarian says at the same time with the last month Saudi Arabian-organized summit in Riyadh that caused the ongoing crisis between Qatar and several Arab countries over Dohas endorsement of Iran as a source of peace and stability in the region, Saudi rulers put pressure on Kuwait to reduce ties with Tehran.
Speaking to a reporter on Saturday, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, the spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee noted that in line with its hostilepoliciesby incitingIranophobiain the world, Saudi Arabia is trying to prevent the regional countries from interacting with the Islamic Republic.
Naghavi Hosseini referred to the recent diplomatic rowbetween Tehran and Kuwait City, and said Saudis' footprint can obviously be seenin this case.
The Iranian lawmaker also criticized the cessation of Iran-Kuwaits joint cooperation, saying Tehran and Kuwait City have always had positive ties and benefited from having economic, political and social interactions.
Iran and Kuwait have never had tense relations, he stressed, adding the Islamic Republic helped Kuwait when theIraqi dictatorSaddamHussein attacked the country.
Kuwait has reportedly told the Iranian Embassy to reduce its diplomatic staff in the Persian Gulf state and close down some of its technical offices following a court ruling last year that implicated some Iranians in a spying case.
Citing a Foreign Ministry source, Kuwaits official KUNA new agency reported Thursday that Kuwait City decided to freeze any activities involving joint committees between the two countries following the ruling by Kuwaits top court in a case known as the Abdali cell.
Media reports said on Thursday that Kuwait had shut down the office of Irans cultural attach and reduced the number of Iranian diplomats in the country from 19 to 4.
Later on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Kuwaits charge daffaires in Tehran for some explanations.