The lack of response was odd, given that in the world of diplomacy it is automatic that when one country expels a diplomat, the other country expels a diplomat of equal rank. This is not an option; it is just standard practice.
Yet, Iran has not acted. No reciprocal expulsion has been carried out.
There was speculation the Islamic Republic withheld for fear the decline in Iranian relations with the Persian Gulf states was going too far and too fast for Iranian liking.
Bahrain expelled one Iranian diplomat, Hojatollah Rahmani, on April 26, charging that he had been in contact with two Iranian men convicted in April in Kuwait of running a spy ring. The expulsion suggested that the spy ring was not confined to Kuwait, but operated elsewhere in the Persian Gulf as well.
Kuwait expelled three Iranian diplomats over the spy ring earlier. Iran swiftly responded in the normal diplomatic manner by expelling three Kuwaiti diplomats of equal rank.
