By Jamie Etheridge

KUWAIT: Failure to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran could result in an intensification of conflicts in the region, a US envoy warned while on a diplomatic tour of the Gulf yesterday. "If the Security Council fails to extend the arms embargo by October 18, Iran will be able to freely buy and sell these weapons," Brian Hook, US special envoy for Iran, said during a virtual press conference in Kuwait.

In place for 13 years, the arms embargo prevents the Islamic Republic from purchasing conventional weapons including attack helicopters, submarines, missiles, fighter jets and other military hardware. Its removal could result in ever greater threats to energy infrastructure and freedom of navigation, Hook explained. An increase in the purchases of arms and weapons by Iran could also stoke a regional arms race, the special envoy suggested.

Prior to the press conference, Hook met HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah to discuss the upcoming UN Security Council vote. Hook's visit is his second to the region. He has also visited Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates as well as Israel to lobby for the embargo's extension.

There are five permanent members of the UN Security Council - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States - who all hold veto power. Russia has said that it will not support an extension of the embargo. "Therefore, our position is clear, we are against such attempts, and we do not see any grounds for these attempts to succeed," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif last week.

In Kuwait, the US special envoy also thanked Kuwait for its ongoing role in mediating in the Gulf dispute. "This dispute has gone on for too long and ultimately it harms our shared regional interests in stability, prosperity and security," Hook said. He noted that Washington supports unity among GCC members and wishes HH the Amir health, reaffirming that the US supports the Amir's efforts for Gulf unity. "The United States also remains as committed to the security and stability of Kuwait as we were 30 years ago," he added, in reference to the US role in supporting Kuwait's liberation from Iraqi occupation.