Kuwait returns 11 prisoners to Iran

Kuwait has returned 11 Iranian prisoners to the Islamic Republic’s judicial authorities late on Tuesday, according to IRNA.

The move came after efforts by Iran’s foreign affairs ministry, justice ministry and the Iranian embassy in Kuwait to secure the transfer of the prisoners from Kuwait City to Tehran.

The efforts were made according to the terms of an extradition treaty between Iran and Kuwait.

The transfer comes after a joint meeting between the consular committee of Iran and Kuwait for the first time in eight years, where the two countries emphasised the importance of judicial cooperation.

The meeting came within the wider context of Iran’s attempts to thaw relations with Arab countries as part of a wider move to bring Tehran of isolation. Most notable was the successful China-mediated talks aimed at normalisation between Tehran and Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it wants to use consular and judicial support programmes to work on issuing amnesty provisions and securing the release of Iranian prisoners from a host of Arab countries.

Relations between Kuwait and Iran were recently tested over the issue of rights between Kuwait, as well as Saudi Arabia, and Tehran to the Durra oil field.

Kuwait and Saudi have joint rights to the field, but Iran also has claims over the field and has called the Kuwait-Saudi claims "illegal".

The two countries have agreed to bilateral talks to resolve the issue.