The Gulf nation Kuwait, which is a neighbor to Iran, has warned that the Middle East region is "boiling" and that the oil-rich nation must establish a defense program "against any danger." Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled al-Sabah made the statement after defense ministers of the Gulf States met in Saudi Arabia last week to discuss a coordinated defense against "emerging regional powers." The reference was to Iran, which is developing a nuclear power station.
A former Kuwait army officer said that the defense system would take into account lessons learned from the regional war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s and from the Iraqi invasion of the country during the Gulf War in 1991.