Kuwait did not ask for 'additional American, British forces,' insist sources

Kuwaiti has requested neither American nor British additional forces for protection, official sources reported yesterday, explaining that the foreign forces were already in place.

“The Kuwaiti army is ready and prepared for any emergency,” the sources told Al-Qabas

The sources denied alleged “Kuwaiti mediation between Iran and the United States (US),” a rumour that was recently spread across the media. “Any mediation at the moment would not contain the current US-Iranian escalation,” the sources stressed.

The Kuwaiti Sources pointed out that there was a fear of escalation that would lead to what they described as “catastrophic results,” calling the disputing countries “to calm down the situation.”

On his part, the chief of general staff of the Kuwaiti army denied that his country’s military bases were being used “to carry out attacks against specific targets in a neighbouring country,” stressing that the recently-circulated news about the matter was “groundless.”

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Another American source in Washington said that the US military presence in the region would “budge,” adding that it would not be affected by all the threats posed by Iran. “US presence is essential for the global stability and the international peacekeeping,” the source said.

“We [US] are not intimidated by all these statements and threats. We were here and we will stay in order to preserve our interests and those of our allies against Iran’s destabilizing region and the world,” the American source reiterated.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have recently sparked after a US airstrike stormed the Iraqi Baghdad international airport on Friday, where the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, along with senior Iraqi militants were killed.

The Pentagon accused Soleimani of planning to carry out attacks on US diplomats and service members in Iraq and the region, saying the slain leader was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members.

The attack has caused regional tensions to soar and tested the US alliance with Iraq.

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