ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kuwait’s ruling emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah will visit Iraq on Wednesday to discuss rising Middle East tensions, Kuwait state agency KUNA reported on Tuesday.
The meeting comes “as tension is rising in the region, especially with the recent attacks on oil tankers and commercial ships in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,” KUNA added.
In the past month, six tankers have been hit in attacks near the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The US alleged that Iran used mines to attack four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah in attacks in May.
The US also blamed Iran for attacks on June 13, when two tankers caught fire in the Gulf of Oman, forcing the crews to abandon the vessels.
Iran has vehemently denied both accusations.
While Kuwait has not assigned blame, its U.N ambassador, Mansour Al-Otaibi, called the attacks on the two tankers a “violation of international law” and “a criminal act”, calling for an unbiased investigation.
“Everybody wants an impartial and objective investigation”, al-Otaibi told reporters on June 13 after a meeting called by the US, adding that there has yet to be a discussion on who would conduct it.
This will be Sheikh Sabah’s second visit to Iraq since becoming leader of Kuwait, according to KUNA.
President of Iraq Barham Salih met the emir in Kuwait last November.
Iraq and Kuwait have long been working to repair relations after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of its southern neighbour.
Iraq resumed reparation payments to Kuwait for the Gulf War destruction of Kuwaiti oil fields and facilities in April 2018.
The payments were suspended in October 2014, when Iraq’s budgetary needs became overwhelmed with fighting the Islamic State (ISIS).
Kuwait donated some $200 million to aid displaced Iraqis in 2015 and committed $2 billion to re-build areas liberated from ISIS, KUNA reported.
In further Iraq-Kuwait discussion of recent regional developments, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim held a telephone conversation with Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid on Sunday, discussing the need to “upgrade” bilateral relations between the two countries, according to an Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook post.
Iraq and Kuwait are trying to "calm them [regional developments] in the interests of stability,” the post added.
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