Kuwait Summons Iran Envoy over Soleimani Killing Claim

Kuwait city, Jan 24 (AFP) Kuwait's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador Friday after a high-level Iranian official implicated the emirate in the US drone attack that killed top general Qasem Soleimani, official news agency KUNA reported.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah expressed Kuwait's "amazement" at the claim that one of its air bases had been among those used to carry out the January 3 attack, KUNA said.

It said he was referring to a statement by Brigadier-General Amirali Hajizadeh, aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

"MQ-9 UAVs (drones) were flying in the region (at the time of the attack) that had mostly taken off from Kuwait's Ali al-Salem" base, Hajizadeh told Iranian state television Thursday.

Jarallah told the ambassador, Mohammed Irani, that Kuwait had already denied any role in the deadly attack in Baghdad.

He said such a claim "risks damaging relations" between Kuwait and Iran.

Soleimani had been at the centre of power-broking in the region for two decades as chief of Iran's external operations Quds Force of the elite Revolutionary Guards. (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)