Iran Expels Kuwaiti Diplomats

Iran has expelled several Kuwaiti diplomats in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the expulsion of three of its diplomats and an embassy staff member accused of espionage, Iran’s foreign ministry reported. The statement did not specify the exact number of Kuwaitis expelled.

Meanwhile, an influential Kuwaiti lawmaker today called for the expulsion of all remaining Iranian diplomats in the country.

"The foreign ministry should consider all Iranian diplomats personae non gratae and issue a strongly-worded statement in response to the diplomatically unacceptable Iranian behavior," MP Mubarak Al Waalan said [Al Aan, 9 April].

The diplomatic row started after a Kuwaiti court 10 days ago sentenced two Iranians to death for their alleged role in a spy ring working for Iran.

AFP Correspondent Expelled

By Nader Uskowi

Iran expelled Agence France-Presse (AFP) deputy bureau chief in Tehran, Jay Deshmukh, on Friday. The authorities did not give any explanation for their decision. Deshmukh, a 40-year-old Indian national, had been in the country since January 2009.

"Jay Desmukh, in common with the whole of the Tehran bureau, does a great job and with a professionalism that is universally recognized," said Emmanuel Hoog, AFP chief executive, in Paris. "Thus to attack this journalist and AFP, as the Iran authorities have done, is totally unjust and unjustifiable." [AFP, 11 March].

AFP reporting from Iran has been among the most professional and balanced sources of news from the country. Uskowi on Iran regularly uses AFP dispatches, including those written by Mr. Desmukh, and regrets the decision by Iranian authorities to expel him.

We are also concerned for the implications of this decision on the freedom of press in Iran. Many Iranian journalists are in jail. Coverage by foreign correspondents is largely restricted. Most western television and radio networks are systematically jammed in the capital Tehran and in most big cities. The authorities also block many of the Internet websites based abroad.