Iran on Wednesday accused some of its regional neighbours of siding with its adversaries, saying that “hosting Iran’s enemies and colluding with them to stoke conflict against Iranians” reflected “ingratitude toward the past and a lack of foresight.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, in a post on X, recalled Iran’s role in helping Kuwait extinguish hundreds of burning oil wells after Iraqi forces withdrew from the country in 1991, suggesting that Tehran’s goodwill had not been reciprocated.
Sharing a photograph of Iranian specialists working in Kuwait after the Gulf War, Baqaei described it as “a historic photo of noble and dedicated Iranian specialists” who helped extinguish the country’s burning oil wells.
He said that although only three years had passed since the end of the Iran-Iraq war and despite what he called Kuwait’s support, along with other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, for Saddam Hussein during the conflict,Iran responded to Kuwait’s request for assistance.
According to Baqaei, Tehran dispatched a 47-member team of oil industry specialists that helped cap 28 burning wells in Kuwait’s giant Burgan oil field, an operation he said became part of “the largest oil well firefighting operation in history.”
Using the episode to criticise some of Iran’s neighbours, Baqaei wrote: “The noble people of Iran extinguished the fire that was consuming you, yet you have become part of the malevolent forces’ fire turned against our people.”
He added,”Iran has always remained committed to good neighbourliness,” but warned that “the smoke of ingratitude and shortsightedness will blow back into the eyes of the ungrateful,” concluding with the proverb: “He who sows thorns shall not reap grapes.”
The remarks come amid heightened regional tensions as the conflict involving Iran and the United States continues to escalate, with Tehran increasingly accusing some Gulf states of facilitating the presence and operations of its adversaries in the region.
