Kuwait expels Iran diplomats

Kuwait yesterday expelled Iranian diplomats and closed some embassy missions after the emirate's top court convicted a "terror" cell of links to the Islamic republic, the foreign ministry said.

The action was taken after a supreme court ruling last month said "Iranian sides helped and supported the cell members," the ministry said in a statement.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP around 15 diplomats were ordered to leave. Kuwait also ordered the closure of the Iranian "military, cultural and trade" missions, the official said. It was not immediately known if the Iranian ambassador is among the diplomats ordered to leave.

Last month Kuwait's supreme court sentenced the mastermind of the cell to life in jail and condemned 20 others to various prison terms for alleged links with Iran and Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, and plotting terror attacks in Kuwait.

The row comes at a time when Kuwait is trying to mediate an end to the Gulf's worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar over accusations it is too close to Iran and funds extremists. Unlike fellow Sunni-ruled Gulf partners Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Kuwait maintained good relations with its Shia neighbour Iran.