minister Tuesday, accusing him of being too nice to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It was yet another example of the growing intensity of anti-Iran feelings around the Persian Gulf.
Parliament Speaker Jassim Al-Kharafi said legislators will vote on the proposal June 23. If approved, Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah must either remove Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al- Mohammed Al-Sabah, his nephew, or dissolve parliament and call fresh elections, according to Kuwait’s constitution.
The prime minister was questioned Tuesday in a closed session of Parliament over the nation’s thawing of diplomatic relations with Iran, which lawmakers allege risks undermining ties with other Gulf states.
Lawmakers from Kuwait’s Sunni Muslim majority said the government is “harming Ku-wait’s national security and ties with GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] states through its biased foreign affairs with the Iranian regime.” The Gulf Cooperation Council comprises Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi visited Kuwait last month, announcing that the two countries would exchange ambassadors once again after a dispute over an alleged spy network operating in Kuwait led to both sides expelling each other’s diplomats earlier this year. The lawmakers say the visit angered the Kuwaiti people and “was arranged despite the exceptional and bad conditions” of the GCC states’ relations with Iran.
Shiite-Sunni tensions have flared in Kuwait in recent months, partly due to the sectarian unrest in Bahrain. Kuwaiti Shiites rallied against sending ground troops to the other Gulf Arab state, while Sunnis have demonstrated in favor of a deployment. Kuwait later sent a naval force to Bahrain, but not ground troops.
Adding to tensions, a Kuwaiti court in March sentenced to death two Iranians and one Kuwaiti for spying for Iran. Iran has denied any link to the alleged spy network.