Kuwaiti Emir’s Tehran Visit

The Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah arrived in Tehran on Monday (June 2nd 2014) for his first ever visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and is scheduled to stay in the Iranian capital for two days. The Kuwaiti Emir’s visit to Tehran at this juncture and following the election of “hope and foresight” administration in Iran, which has taken place after a long time since a high-ranking Kuwaiti official visited the Islamic Republic, is sure to mark a turning point in the two countries’ relations. It also indicates high willingness of regional countries to further expand their relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. At a time that Iranophobic policies and approaches are being promoted by certain regional and transregional countries both at regional and global levels, the Kuwaiti Emir’s visit to Iran will help to thwart such efforts and play an important role in bringing the political views of regional countries close together.

The Kuwaiti Emir’s Tehran visit can be considered as a trip by a friend to a friendly country, which is of course of high significance in view of the existing sensitivities and crises in the region and also due to neighborly relations and a lot of commonalities that exist between the two countries. In addition to adopting a moderate foreign policy approach to its foreign relations, the government of Kuwait has also taken good steps inside the country to promote democracy. Therefore, Kuwait is among those countries which can play a role in bringing the viewpoints of various regional states closer together while, on the other hand, taking positive steps to counteract extremist and violent groups that have been thriving in various parts of the region.

Kuwait, on its own, enjoys a special status in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, at the same time, it has special credit as a member state of the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council [(P)GCC]. Therefore, we must wait and see in which of these two capacities Kuwait is going to play its role; that is, which one of these two capacities are more important for this Persian Gulf state.

During three decades that have passed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Kuwait has frequently put Iran to test and has found the Islamic Republic a powerful country that is friendly toward its neighbors in addition to being a responsible country. Therefore, it does not seem that Kuwait is likely to be willing to tarnish its bilateral relations with Iran. Kuwait, however, is willing to develop its multilateral relations with all regional countries in addition to having amicable bilateral ties with Iran. Let’s not forget that Kuwait is a country whose policies are based on its own political calculations and, without a doubt, it pays due attention to those calculations when it comes to relations with the Islamic Republic as well. In this regard, some regional sources and media outlets have speculated that one of the goals of Kuwaiti Emir’s visit to Iran is to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown that it is always ready to listen to remarks, consultations and recommendations of friendly countries and mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia is not an exception to this general rule. Of course, one must wait and see to what extent the Emir of Kuwait will be ready to act in this field.

However, the question that should be answered here is whether Kuwait can be reckoned on as a reliable neighboring country for the full expansion of bilateral ties? Now, if reliable country is taken to mean a country which poses no threat to us and is, in turn, not threatened by us, it would follow that Kuwait is certainly a reliable country for us. However, if by reliable country, we mean a country that would not allow other countries to take measures against us, it would follow that Kuwait has been only relatively reliable in this regard. On the other hand, if the reliable country is taken to mean a country whose relations with us are quite friendly, cordial and neighborly, it should be noted that relations between Tehran and Kuwait have not reached such a high level yet. Kuwait should continue to build trust with Iran in order to prevent other countries from interfering in the expansion of relations between Tehran and Kuwait.

Despite the above facts, there is one point which should not be ignored here. When it comes to the ongoing crisis in Syria, unlike some other regional countries and although Kuwait has tried to cooperate with other member states of the (P)GCC with regard to this crisis, it has, however, remained cautious in this regard. This means that Kuwait has did its best to prevent the foreign-sponsored crisis in Syria from having a negative impact on its relations with other regional countries. In other words, Kuwait has appeared more rational and foresighted in this regard compared to some other regional states. Even with regard to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the member states of the P5+1 group of world powers, Kuwait has welcomed the success of the talks.

It is although noteworthy that the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kuwait also share many commonalities in the economic sphere. In other words, economy is one of the areas for cooperation to which both countries should pay necessary attention. There are many fertile grounds for bilateral cooperation in this sphere. The two countries can also sign bilateral agreements and contracts to pave the way for many practical measures and implementation of various projects in such areas as oil and petrochemical industry; development of energy resources; rail, air, land, and maritime transportation; as well as export of engineering services, electricity and agricultural products. The presence of both countries in and their control over the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf has imparted more importance to their relations. There are also other issues, which should receive necessary attention from the two countries, which include environmental issues, both in sea and on land.

Key Words: Kuwaiti Emir, Tehran Visit, (P)GCC, Bilateral Ties, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Zanganeh