Kuwait urges U.S. caution on Iran

KUWAIT CITY, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Kuwait leaders have urged the White House to scale down its verbal war with Iran over that country's nuclear program.

Kuwait's concern over the potential closing of the Strait of Hormuz through which as much as 40 percent of the world's sea-transited crude oil passes prompted words of warning from Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah in a televised interview Saturday.

"Merely talking about such a closure creates a state of tension and will raise the insurance costs on vessels passing through," he said, referring to Iran's threatened response to any military attack by the United States or Israel on its nuclear facilities.

"It is true that we are allies of America ... (however,) we are against escalation against Iran (over its nuclear program)," KUNA news service quoted him as saying. "We have the courage to correspond with our main allies for what we see as in the interest of Kuwait and the region," al-Sabah said.