Iranian citizen sentenced to death in Kuwait; Islamic Republic's ambassador summoned

Kuwait's foreign ministry on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, summoned Mohammad Toutounchi, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the country. The summons came after the Islamic Republic's embassy rejected, in a statement, a death sentence handed to an Iranian citizen by Kuwait's state security court.

Kuwait's state security criminal court on Monday, 26 October, sentenced three people to death: Abdolreza Heydar Dehghani, an Iranian citizen, and Hussein Abdullah al-Matouq and Hassan Abdulhadi Hajiyeh. They were charged with spying for the Islamic Republic and Lebanon's Hezbollah, acting against Kuwait's national security and taking part in planning the assassination of Sheikh Fahad Yousef Al-Sabah, Kuwait's first deputy prime minister and interior minister, and several other senior officials. Eight other defendants in the case were sentenced to five years in prison.

The embassy's statement and Kuwait's response

The Islamic Republic's embassy in Kuwait flatly denied in a statement any role of the Iranian citizen in the plot to assassinate Kuwaiti officials and claimed he had not entered Kuwait in the past ten years. The embassy called the charges a "repetition of baseless and worn-out scenarios" about Tehran's interference in Kuwait's internal affairs.

Hamad Suleiman Al-Mashaan, Kuwait's deputy foreign minister, told the ambassador that the statement was blatant interference in Kuwait's internal affairs and an affront to its national sovereignty and the independence of its judiciary. Kuwait's foreign ministry said it does not accept any interference in its court rulings and called on the Islamic Republic to respect international law, the UN Charter and the principle of good neighbourliness.

Background of tension between Kuwait and the Islamic Republic

This is not the first summons of the Islamic Republic's ambassador in Kuwait this year. In March–April 2026, after the Islamic Republic's missile and drone attacks on Kuwaiti territory, including a drone attack on the airport, Kuwait summoned the ambassador for the third time since the war began. In April–May the ambassador was summoned again after clashes on Bubiyan Island between Kuwaiti forces and people whom Kuwaiti officials described as members of the IRGC. In June–July an attack on a Kuwaiti tanker in the Strait of Hormuz led to another summons.

Kuwait's state security court sentenced an Iranian citizen and two other defendants to death for spying for the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah and plotting to assassinate the interior minister.