Kuwait strongly condemns storming, sabotage against its consulate in Basra

KUWAIT: The State of Kuwait on Tuesday condemned and denounced in the strongest terms storming and sabotage targeting the Kuwaiti Consulate in Iraq's Basra City, along with blatant aggressions on the consulate's premises in an unacceptable and serious breach of diplomatic norms and conventions.

In a press statement, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said that such acts represent a serious and blatant violation of Iraq's international commitments, particularly regarding the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations for 1963, mainly Article 31 that obliges the host country to fully protect and safeguard consular missions' premises.

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The State of Kuwait held the Iraqi government fully and directly responsible for this attack and for any failure to take the necessary measures to protect diplomatic and consular missions on its territory, it said.

The ministry called on the Iraqi government to take immediate and resolute action to bring all those involved in these criminal acts to accountability, ensure that they would not recur, and take stern measures to protect all Kuwaiti diplomatic missions in Iraq.

It underlined that the State of Kuwait is not a party to any regional or international conflict and that it has not and will not allow its territory to be used to attack any country, only out of its foreign policy based on moderation and positive neutrality as well as its commitment to the principles and rules of international law and the principles of good neighborliness.

It pointed out that the continuation of such violations would negatively affect bilateral relations between the two countries and undermine mutual trust.

The ministry stressed that State of Kuwait would closely monitor this matter and would not hesitate to take all necessary moves to protect its interests and diplomatic missions in line with international law.