Kuwait has sentenced three men to death for plotting to assassinate the deputy prime minister, collaborating with Iran and joining Hezbollah.
The Kuwaiti Criminal Court also sentenced eight others to five years in prison with hard labour, local media reported on Monday.
The three men were convicted of harming Kuwait’s national interests, spying for Iran, plotting to assassinate First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al Sabah, and joining the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, according to the court’s ruling.
The court said directing a group inside Kuwait to assassinate the official responsible for internal security on the instructions of a foreign entity constituted a hostile act against the state.
Such an act sought to undermine national security, spread unrest and erode public confidence in the authorities’ ability to protect lives and property, it said.
The court added that national security was a right belonging to society as a whole and stressed that Kuwait’s sovereignty could not be challenged by foreign powers or their directives.
In August, Kuwait's security services foiled a terrorist plot aimed at vital infrastructure in the Gulf country and arrested a suspect linked to ISIS before he could carry out an attack.
Gulf states have faced security challenges this year amid attacks by Iran and domestic plots in sympathy with the Iranian regime.
In March this year, Kuwait arrested dozens of people accused of links to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The Ministry of Interior said six people had confessed to espionage and terrorist activities, including training in "assassination skills". Five were Kuwaiti citizens. It said 14 other suspects, including Kuwaitis, Lebanese and Iranians, had been identified outside the country.
In a separate case, authorities detained 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese citizens affiliated with the Iran-backed group over a “sabotage plot” in the Gulf nation.