Tehran, Iran, March 14
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Iran has always intended to help neighbors, contribute to regional peace and stability, and resolve disputes face-to-face rather than have the UK and others intervene, government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said.
A day earlier, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani sent a letter to Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a further sign that the two might be trying to defuse tensions between the Islamic Republic and the Persian Gulf’s Arab states.
The Islamic Republic looks forward to better ties and President Hassan Rouhani’s recent letter to the Kuwaiti emir served that purpose, Nobakht told Trend March 14.
As exchange of visits and letters suggest, Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council agree that they should mend their ties, the spokesman underlined.
Predominantly Shia Iran and the Sunni Arab-dominated Persian Gulf countries, notably Saudi Arabia, support opposing sides in conflicts in Syria and Yemen but, in January, Kuwait's foreign minister paid a rare visit to Tehran and delivered a message from the emir to Rouhani, describing a "basis of dialogue" between the Arab states and Iran.
Rouhani visited Oman and Kuwait in February on his first visit to the Persian Gulf states since taking power in 2013. He said Kuwait was among at least 10 countries to have offered to mediate in Iran's escalating feud with Saudi Arabia.
Tensions escalated between Tehran and Riyadh, already in dispute over Syria, when Saudi Arabia executed a dissident Shia cleric. In response to that, the Saudi Embassy in Tehran was stormed and set on fire, which led to the two countries closing their respective diplomatic missions.