Kuwaiti crown prince due to visit Iran on Saturday

Kuwaiti Crown Prince and Prime Minister Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah is starting a two-day official visit to Tehran on Saturday, during which he will hold talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Vice President Hassan Habibi, and the head of the parliament, Ali Akhbar Nateq Nouri.

Iranian sources did not exclude that al-Sabah may meet with Iran's Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but they said that so far this has not been determined.

Al-Sabah's talks are expected to tackle bilateral ties, the downfall of petroleum prices in international markets and developments in the Iraqi arena.

This visit comes in the framework of a Kuwaiti tour to respond to tours made by the Iraqi leadership that includes Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.

Al-Sabah will head on March 14 to Damascus, where he will meet with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa and Syria's defense minister to discuss the development of situations in the Gulf area in the shadow of the Iraqi threats against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.