Kuwait expelled Iran’s ambassador and 14 other Iranian diplomats July 20 and ordered the shutdown of Tehran’s cultural and military missions in the oil-rich Persian Gulf country. Iranian officials called the decision “reprehensible” and filed a complaint with the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires; Tehran has maintained its ambassador in Kuwait City.

Given Kuwait’s track record as a “neutral” state that avoids confrontations and cooperates with all neighboring countries, most recently illustrated by the Kuwaiti emir’s providing a diplomatic back channel between parties involved in the Qatar crisis, the expulsions took many by surprise. The bold move, which certainly marked a reversal in Kuwait's efforts earlier this year to defuse tension between Tehran and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, was likely aimed at demonstrating Kuwait’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia at a time when Riyadh has been stepping up pressure on Qatar and other Arab states to distance themselves from Tehran.

Officially, Kuwait’s action is a response to the Abdali case, which dates to August 2015 and involves the uncovering of a Shiite terrorist cell made up of 26 people (25 Kuwaitis and one Iranian) with alleged links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese Hezbollah. According to Kuwaiti officials, the suspects were guilty of possessing large quantities of weapons and ammunition and smuggling explosives into Kuwait from Iran. Tehran denies any involvement in the Abdali case.

The trial began in September 2015; appeals of it reached their conclusion last month when — as a result of a supreme court ruling — the cell’s mastermind is to spend life in prison. Around 20 others were to serve prison terms ranging from five to 15 years. A lower court had convicted most of the 26 suspects in January 2016, but an appeals court later that year acquitted a large number of them or commuted their prison sentences before setting them free. According to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah, 14 involved in the case fled to Iran by sea after hearing about last month’s supreme court ruling, which overturned their acquittals or their reduced sentences. Kuwaiti authorities confirmed that the whereabouts of 14 of those convicted were unknown, while also saying that none had departed Kuwait via official exit points.