Kuwait sentences three to death over plot to assassinate interior minister; Iran denies involvement

• A Kuwaiti court sentenced three men to death for plotting to assassinate the Interior Minister, spying for Iran, and joining Hezbollah
• The condemned include National Islamic Alliance head Hussein Al-Maatouq and two others, one previously pardoned for a 2016 terror conviction
• Eleven co-defendants in the case received five-year prison sentences with hard labor
• The Iranian Embassy rejected claims of a citizen's involvement calling accusations contrary to international law

A Kuwaiti court on Monday sentenced three men to death on charges of plotting to assassinate the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, collaborating with Iran, and joining Lebanese Hezbollah, according to two judicial sources speaking to Agence France-Presse.

The Criminal Court ordered the death penalty for religious scholar and Secretary-General of the National Islamic Alliance Hussein Abdullah Al-Maatouq alongside two other individuals.

One of the other two men had previously been convicted of terrorism in 2016 before receiving an Emiri pardon, but was subsequently re-arrested last April.

According to the judicial sources, the charges against the three men include harming the country's national interests, committing espionage on behalf of Iran, plotting the assassination of the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and joining Hezbollah, which Kuwait designates as a terrorist organization.

In the same trial, 11 other individuals were sentenced to five years of imprisonment with hard labor.

Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, Gulf nations, including Kuwait, have detained dozens of individuals suspected of belonging to cells linked to Iran -predominantly from the Shia Muslim community- during a period in which the wider region faced repeated Iranian strikes.

Iran rejects allegations

In response, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kuwait released an official statement categorically rejecting the claims raised by the Kuwaiti government regarding the alleged involvement of an Iranian citizen in a plot to assassinate figures or carry out any actions harmful to Kuwait's national security.

The embassy noted that the named individual has not been present inside Kuwait at any point during the past ten years.

Expressing deep regret over what it termed a continuing negative posture toward Iran, manifested through the repetition of unfounded scenarios alleging Iranian interference in Kuwaiti domestic affairs.

The mission emphasized that leveling such baseless accusations against Iranian citizens runs contrary to the principle of good neighborliness and violates international law.

The embassy added that amid the serious regional fallout resulting from American and 'Israeli' military aggression against Iran, regional states are expected to adopt responsible and prudent policies that prevent the escalation of strife across the region.