Kuwait says it has the 'courage' to advise the White House not to escalate its war of words with Iran over the country's nuclear program.

"We have the courage to correspond with our main allies for what we see as in the interest of Kuwait and the region," Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah said Saturday in a televised interview.

"It is true that we are allies of America ... (however,) we are against escalation against Iran (over its nuclear program)," KUNA quoted him as saying.

The US, Israel and their European allies accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program.

The UN nuclear watchdog, however, has confirmed that Iran is enriching uranium to three percent, a rate consistent with electricity generation.

Iran cites diplomacy as the only acceptable means for clarifying the nature of its nuclear program and resolving the dispute over its nuclear activities.

Tel Aviv and Washington have portrayed the issue as a matter of world security, prompting the UN Security Council to intervene in the case and threatening to launch military strikes against Iran.

In early June, the Israeli air force staged a military maneuver which is believed to have been a rehearsal for an assault on nuclear sites in Iran.

In response, Iran has warned that should the country come under attack, it would not hesitate to take all crucial measures to ensure its sovereignty - including the closure of the strategic oil passage, the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategically vital strait, between Iran and Oman, is an essential conduit for energy supplies and connects the oil-rich region to free sea.

As much as 40 percent of the world's sea-transited crude oil passes through the waterway.

"Merely talking about such a closure creates a state of tension and will raise the insurance costs on vessels passing through," Sheik Mohammad added.

US-allied Kuwait is home to about one-tenth of global oil reserves. The Arab emirate has mainly relied on the United States for its security since the 1991 US-led war in the region.

MD/AA