Kuwait: Kuwait on Tuesday voiced appreciation for IAEA’s efforts concerning the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Specifically pointing to the agency’s keenness for UN Security Council resolution 2231 to be implemented by concerned parties, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Sadeq Marafi told an IAEA session earlier Tuesday that the State of Kuwait is “concerned” over Iran’s “continuous” breaching of items included in the JCPOA of 2015.

Highlighting the “pivotal” role of the agency in this regard, Ambassador Marafi said that his country is following on developments of this file, at the same time that Kuwait is not denying any country the right to pursue acquiring nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and within the NPT.

Marafi called on Iran to fully abide by the Plan of Action, as well as urging the Islamic Republic to endorse the plan’s supplementary protocol in order to enable the Agency to provide credibility for Iran’s nuclear dossier. In June 2019, Kuwait gained a two-year seat at IAEA’s Board of Governors during the 63rd Annual Regular Session of the Agency’s General Conference. Kuwait joined the Board of Governors during the years 1977-1979, 1987-1989, 1995-1997and 2001-2003.

Strong commitment
Separately, Kuwait’s Ambassador to NATO, EU and Belgium, Jassem Al-Budaiwi has stressed his country’s strong commitment to deepening its mutual cooperation with NATO in every field. Budaiwi made that statement in his speech at the third annual review meeting of the work and activities of the NATO Regional Center for Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, held Tuesday held via video link.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the strong partnership between NATO and Kuwait that has developed through the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) and strengthened through the establishment of the NATO Regional Center in Kuwait,” he said. “It is a true honor for me to see the NATO-ICI Regional Center in Kuwait maintaining its programs and activities and going ahead with a business as usual mentality during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic,” he noted.

Three activities
Budaiwi said that last year, Kuwait and NATO held three important activities, the first was reviewing the national Individual Partnership and Cooperation Program (IPCP) held last autumn in Brussels, the second was reviewing the activity of the NATO Regional Center in Kuwait, also held in Brussels and the third was the ceremony in Kuwait to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the launch of the ICI between NATO and Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.

“We are here to discuss and review the activities of the NATO-ICI Regional Center. In this regard I would like to quote speech of Sheikh Thamer Al-Sabah, President of National Security Bureau of Kuwait, given on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the launch Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), in which he suggested few measures in order to further develop the relationship between both sides,” he said.

These include possibility of holding an annual meeting at the ministerial level between the NATO-ICI countries and intensifying military cooperation through exchanging visits and transferring experiences. Budaiwi announced that both Kuwait and NATO have agreed to organize a joint meeting in Kuwait next year between the ICI countries’ military chiefs of staff in addition to the GCC countries, Saudi Arabia and Oman, with the NATO military committee. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opened the NATO-ICI regional center in Kuwait in 2017.The ICI includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE.