VZCZCXRO5259
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKU #1319 1071347
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171347Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3992
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001319 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM KU IR
SUBJECT: RAFSANJANI VISITS KUWAIT: LOCAL PRESS NOT IMPRESSED 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  Former Iranian President Rafsanjani arrived in 
Kuwait April 16 for a two-day visit.  According to the press, 
his trip is meant to ease regional fears about Iran's nuclear 
program.  Rafsanjani will reportedly meet with the Amir, 
Prime Minister Shaykh Nasser Mohammed Al-Sabah, and Speaker 
of Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi.  Post will report septel on 
the substance of his visit. 
 
¶2.  (U)  The Rafsanjani visit has garnered front page 
coverage in both the English and Arabic press, with 
columnists expressing fear about the nuclear threat to 
Kuwait: 
 
--  Under the headline, "Welcome Rafsanjani, but," 
Arabic-language Al-Qabas stated, "Our position on the Iranian 
nuclear program is closer to Tehran than Washington," 
bringing Israel's nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian 
dispute into the equation.  Nonetheless, like other 
editorials, Al-Qabas voiced concern that Iran put Kuwait "on 
the front line of confrontation" and threatened to close the 
Straits of Hormuz and bomb Gulf countries.  The paper urged 
GCC countries to jointly press Iran on relocating the Bushehr 
reactor, absorbing a portion of the moving expenses if 
necessary. 
 
--  Ahmad Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief of the English-language 
daily Arab Times, wrote a blistering front-page column on 
April 17 lambasting Iran's nuclear machinations.  He called 
the regime a "recalcitrant adolescent," positing that the 
regime is trying to foster conflicts to "fuel the engines of 
revolution."  He went on to express concern that Iran has 
ambitions to "impose its military might on the region," since 
it is pushing it to the "edge of a war" rather than 
negotiating.  He mentioned Iran's territorial disputes with 
the UAE, and its exacerbating of tensions in Iraq.  He also 
said Iran's behavior will push GCC countries to strengthen 
their ties with "their superpower allies."  Finally, he 
stated that Iran would hear "plain speaking" in Kuwait 
leadership, although this may have been more of an appeal 
than a prediction. 
 
--  Badrya Darwish wrote April 17 in the English-language 
Kuwait Times that the main victims of an Iran-U.S. 
confrontation would be the Gulf States.  She noted that Iran 
will "hit all American interests in the region.  That means 
that the battlefield won't be New York or Tel Aviv but 
Manama, Doha and Kuwait City."  She conjectured that Israel's 
distance would save it from the damage that would affect the 
Arab Gulf states.  She continued that she does not oppose a 
nuclear Iran in principle because she is happy that an enemy 
of Israel will be nuclear-armed.  Thus her arguments are 
based on the potential side effects of a war or an accident 
rather than fears of Iranian domination of the Gulf. 
 
--  Arabic daily Al-Seyassah took a strong position, writing 
"Iran threatens the interests of the region."  The paper said 
if Iran was serious about promoting peace, the GOI would 
solve its territorial dispute with the UAE and address how to 
put an end to the violence in Iraq. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
LEBARON