Renewed Tensions over Kuwait-Iraq Border

"The third mistake was the agreement signed by the former transportation minister dividing Khor Abdullah into two and narrowing Iraqi waterways adjacent to Iran and Kuwait," Abdul-Latif said, adding that he plans to file a lawsuit in maritime court disputing the legality of the Mubarak Al Kabeer port and the Khor Abdullah agreement.

As the agreement continues to fuel controversy, some maritime experts offered a different opinion than that of the politicians. One of those experts, Alaa Badran, told Al-Monitor the agreement does not impede Iraq, since it demarcates maritime borders so that navigation functions properly. Badran is secretary of the Marshes’ Committee of the Basra Provincial Council.

He further said that only part of the border adjacent to Umm Qasr and Bubiyan Island was taken under the agreement, adding that Kuwait took a "taluk" line similar to that of Iran's, and therefore the agreement does not affect the Iraqi side. "Taluk" is an Iraqi maritime term referring to the centerline in the main waterway available for maritime navigation at the point where the water level starts to decrease upon reaching land borders.

The Iraqi parliament's Foreign Relations Committee is seeking to resolve the situation to everyone's satisfaction. Committee member Mithal al-Allusi told Al-Monitor that Iraq maintains good relations with Kuwait, but Iraqis’ discontent with the government’s decisions could harm these relations in the future. When one country controls the lands and ports of another, he added, peace is unlikely.

Many observers believe Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Cabinet will probably make the same mistake made during Maliki’s rule: ceding the maritime canal to Kuwait to preserve diplomatic relations and achieve short-term interests at the expense of an angry Iraqi public.

One Response to Renewed Tensions over Kuwait-Iraq Border

  1. abbass hassan 9th February 2017 at 15:30 #

    in plain English , the government and the cabinet are DONK. KUWAIT is as always is the evil
    from hell.