Kuwait summoned Iran's ambassador to Kuwait, Muhammad Tutunji, on Wednesday and handed him a formal note of protest over a statement issued by the Iranian embassy earlier in the day, Kuwait's Foreign Ministry announced, according to AzerNews. The ministry accused Iran of interference in rulings issued by Kuwait's national courts and urged Tehran to respect international law and the UN Charter.

Source: AzerNews, reporting Kuwait Foreign Ministry announcement

In its message, disseminated through social networks, the Foreign Ministry described the Iranian text as "a blatant intervention in the internal affairs of Kuwait and a diminution of its sovereignty and independence of its judicial authority, in clear violation of international laws and norms", Demócrata reported, adding that Kuwait conveyed its "rejection" and "firm condemnation" of any intervention in the judicial rulings of its national courts.

Source: Demócrata

What Iran's embassy said

A few hours earlier, the Embassy of Iran in Kuwait had "categorically" rejected what it called the Kuwaiti government's claims that an Iranian citizen participated in a plot to assassinate personalities or in any other act against Kuwait's national security, stressing that the individual "has not been present in Kuwait during the last ten years".

The embassy expressed "deep regret at the persistence of negative approaches toward Iran", which it said are shown through "repeated and fallacious reports about alleged Iranian interference in the affairs of Kuwait", and said such accusations against Iranian citizens contravene the principle of good neighbourliness and international law. It added that, with the region facing dangerous consequences from the military aggression of the United States and Israel against Iran, regional countries are expected to avoid an increase in strife through responsible and prudent policies.

The court case behind the row

On Monday, a Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced three people to death on charges of cooperating with Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah and plotting to assassinate the country's First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, WANA reported. The three are Hussein Abdullah Matooq, a religious figure and secretary-general of Kuwait's National Islamic Alliance, Hassan Abdulhadi Hajieh, and Abdulreza Haidar Dehqani. WANA said the sentences are not yet final and remain subject to appeal.

Source: WANA News Agency

The court also sentenced eight other defendants to five years in prison. Two judicial sources told AFP that prosecutors accused the defendants of spying for Iran, communicating with Iranian-linked entities and joining Hezbollah. According to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai, as reported by AFP, the defendants were accused of communicating with Iran and entities allegedly operating in its interests, including Hezbollah, to carry out hostile acts against Kuwait following the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28, at the beginning of the US-Israeli war against Iran. These are prosecution allegations; Iran denies involvement.

Kuwait has investigated earlier cases involving allegations of espionage for Iran and links to Hezbollah, including the network known as the "Abdali cell" announced in 2015, in which the Court of Appeal upheld one death sentence in 2016, WANA noted. Those cases are separate from the latest proceedings.

What happens next turns on two tracks: the appeal stage in Kuwait's courts, and whether the diplomatic exchange hardens into a wider Kuwait-Iran rupture at a moment when, by both sides' own statements, the wider Gulf region is already under severe strain from the US-Israeli war against Iran.