August 13, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 10, 1429

KUWAIT, Aug 12: Kuwait called on Iran and the West to resolve a conflict over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions peacefully.

Kuwait, which hosts thousands of US troops, is deeply concerned about the prospect of war in the Gulf and threats by Iran to impose shipping controls in the Strait of Hormuz if it is attacked. About 40 per cent of global oil exports leave the Gulf via the waterway off Iran’s southern coast.

“We hope things will not develop for the worse, and that the language of reason and dialogue between all parties prevails,” Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah told daily al-Rai in an interview published on Tuesday.

“We think diplomacy is the best solution.”

The Crown Prince, deputy to Kuwait’s ruling emir, repeated previous Kuwaiti assertions that the country from where 2003’s US-led invasion of Iraq was launched will not aid any military action against Iran.

“We are not a party in any possible conflict between Western countries and (our) friend the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

The United States has refused to rule out military action against Iran if Tehran continues with attempts to enrich uranium. Tehran says it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, while Washington says Iran wants atomic arms.

An air force drill staged by Israel in June sparked speculation about an assault on nuclear sites in Iran, which has vowed retaliatory strikes at Israel as well as US interests and military bases and shipping if it is attacked.—Reuters