KUWAIT: Kuwait's
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad
Al-Sabah held talks yesterday with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif
on a host of issues, including means of reducing tensions in the Gulf region.
The discussions between Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled and Zarif dealt with cooperation
between the two friendly countries, latest regional events and ways to ease
tensions in the Gulf. The talks also addressed means to ensure free navigation
in this key region of the world, bilateral ties and matters of mutual concern,
in addition to latest happenings around the world. Zarif also met HH the Crown
Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

"Good talks with
Kuwaiti crown prince and foreign minister. Praying for Emir's speedy
recovery," Zarif wrote on Twitter. Zarif said that during the talks, he
stressed that Iran's proposal for a regional dialogue forum and non-aggression
pact would eliminate the need to rely on foreign powers. Unlike its strained
relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Iran maintains good
ties with Kuwait, which has acted as mediator to improve ties between Tehran
and Arab Gulf states.

Meanwhile,
Gibraltar yesterday rejected a US demand to seize an Iranian oil tanker at the
center of a diplomatic dispute as it prepared to leave the British overseas
territory after weeks of detention. Gibraltar's government said it could not
seek a court order to detain the supertanker because US sanctions against Iran
were not applicable in the European Union. "The EU sanctions regime
against Iran - which is applicable in Gibraltar - is much narrower than that
applicable in the US," the Gibraltar authorities said in a statement.

A Gibraltar judge
had ordered the Grace 1 tanker released on Thursday, weeks after authorities
seized the vessel on suspicion of transporting oil to Syria in breach of
European sanctions. Iran has repeatedly denied this. But on Friday the US
Justice Department filed a request to detain the ship alleging it was involved
in supporting illicit shipments to Syria by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps, listed as a terrorist group by Washington.

The seizure
triggered a sharp deterioration in relations between Tehran and London. Iran
subsequently detained the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero in what was seen
as a tit-for-tat move. The US Justice Department says the Grace 1 - now renamed
the Adrian Darya - and its oil are subject to forfeiture because of US
sanctions violations. Ties between Tehran and Washington have frayed since US
President Donald Trump withdrew last year from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal
between major powers and Iran, reimposing crippling unilateral sanctions. -
Agencies