Kuwait remains mired in political and sectarian tumult following a controversial visit by the Shiite parliamentarian Abdul Hamid Dashti to Lebanon on July 16. While there, Dashti convened a fatiha council, a Shiite traditional gathering to console the family of a deceased member, and read suras. The event, at Beirut's Al-Saha Hotel, was held to honor the souls of the 27 people killed June 26 in Kuwait at Al-Sadiq Mosque by a suicide bomber. More than 220 people were wounded. The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility.

The problem in Kuwaiti eyes was not the visit itself nor Dashti accepting the condolences of non-Kuwaiti mourners outside of Kuwait for an event that had occurred in Kuwait. What offended most of them and led to an escalation in sectarian rhetoric on the streets of Kuwait and accusations of some Shiite figures threatening national unity were the photos that Dashti posted on his Twitter account July 19. Dashti is close to Iran and Hezbollah, Tehran's Lebanese ally.

The photos show Dashti kissing the head of the father of Imad Mughniyeh, the late Hezbollah military commander, during a personal visit to the Mughniyeh family home. In addition, other Kuwaiti Shiite lawmakers before Dashti had ignored the apparent wishes of other Kuwaiti citizens by paying tribute to Mughniyeh, who had been implicated in international crimes and was wanted in several countries before his assassination in February 2008.

Most Kuwaitis remember Mughniyeh as the lead hijacker of a Kuwaiti civilian aircraft (Al-Jabriya) in April 1988, an incident that lasted 16 days. The hijackers killed two Kuwaiti passengers. Kuwaitis view Dashti’s expressions of sympathy as sectarian acts that threaten national peace, especially as it was preceded by other actions also perceived as sectarian, among them Kuwaiti Shiite parliamentarian Adnan Abdul Samad’s eulogy for Mughniyeh, in which he called the commander a “martyr.” Samad's words caused a wave of political and popular anger in Kuwait because it was seen as provoking Kuwaiti Sunnis. As a result, the parliamentary immunity enjoyed by Abdul Samad and others was lifted, and they faced trial on July 23, 2008, on charges of destabilizing the country. Charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.