Kuwait and Iran recently reinstated their ambassadors to one another, after having recalled them amid accusations that Kuwait had uncovered an Iranian spy ring. In an email interview, W. Andrew Terrill, a research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and the author of "Kuwaiti National Security and the U.S.-Kuwaiti Strategic Relationship After Saddam," discussed Kuwait-Iran relations.
WPR: What is the recent history of Iran-Kuwait relations?
W. Andrew Terrill: Kuwait enthusiastically backed Iraq during the second half of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, although the Kuwaiti leadership deeply regretted this decision after Saddam Hussein invaded their country in 1990. After the 1991 liberation, the Kuwaitis made a significant effort to improve their relations with Tehran in the knowledge that Iran was a natural enemy of Saddam Hussein's regime. The Kuwait found it easier to reach out to Iran after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death in 1989, which led to the emergence of a more-pragmatic Iranian leadership. But Kuwaitis viewed current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's political rise with concern due to his confrontational approach to regional politics. Kuwait and Iran have continued to disagree over the U.S. regional role in the Middle East, but both sides made an effort to maintain friendly relations.