KUWAIT - Iran's Ambassador to Kuwait Ali Jannati told a Kuwaiti daily that relations between Iran and regional states are in a good status and that the main strategy of the Islamic Republic is to consolidate ties with these countries.

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas in its Monday edition quoted Jannati as saying that relations between Iran and the Persian Gulf littoral states were growing.

He said however that certain countries in and outside the region were trying to mar relations between Iran and its neighbors and to obstruct their expansion.

He added that Iranian and Kuwaiti experts are soon to start talks on continental shelf per an agreement reached between the Iranian and Kuwaiti oil ministers.

The diplomat said Iran has built many dams and acquired experiences in the field of water reserves and now it has the potential to transfer water to other countries.

He said that regional states cannot rely on their water disalination plants in the long run considering growing pollution of the Persian Gulf waters.

He added that since two years ago, a Iran-Kuwait-UK consortium has been studying feasibility of a project for transfer of Iran's water to Kuwait.

Jannati said early studies have been made by the consortium on transfer of water from Karkhe dam southwest of Iran to Kuwait.

He said the project will be in interest of Iran and Kuwait, serving to promote cooperation between the two countries.

He added that there will be international guarantees for transfer of Iran's water to Kuwait for the next 20 years.

On Iran-Iraq ties, Jannati said following the eight-year (1980- 88) imposed war, Iran made efforts to resume ties with Iraq, given the long borders shared by the two sides.

Jannati said there are still problems remaining unsolved such as the issue of Iranian prisoners of war (POWs) kept in Iraq, abundant damage inflicted on Iran during the war, destruction of 11 border cities and refineries as well as industrial plants and installations, and for this reason efforts to resume amicable ties between the two countries have not been fruitful.

He termed Iran-Syria ties as strategic'' and said the ties were founded by father of the Islamic Revolution and Founder of the Islamic Republic the late Imam Khomeini and the late Syrian president Hafiz al-Assad and nothing can affect bilateral ties.

Asked on Iran-Egypt ties, Jannati said relations between Tehran and Cairo are improving with the two countries continuing their efforts to remove minor problems and obstacles.

On Iran-Russian military cooperation, Jannati said the agreements reached between the two countries are not against any country and will not affect the level of ties between Iran and her neighboring states.

He said it is Iran's right to defend herself against enemies and if the budget spent by Iran for arms purchases is compared with that of other regional states, including the UAE, it will be clear that Iran stands at the bottom of the list. (IRNA)