Iraqi President, PM fight court ruling on Kuwait maritime deal
Shafaq News/ Iraq’s President Abdullatif Rashid and Prime
Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani have filed urgent appeals challenging a
Federal Supreme Court ruling that annulled a long-standing maritime navigation
agreement with Kuwait in the strategic Khor Abdullah waterway.
The Iraqi government is pushing to overturn a September 2023
ruling by the Federal Supreme Court that declared the maritime agreement with
Kuwait unconstitutional, a source told Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA.
In his appeal, President Rashid contended that the deal is
rooted in international conventions and reflects Iraq’s constitutional
commitment to good neighborly relations and non-interference in the internal
affairs of other nations.
PM Al-Sudani invoked the Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties, which bars states from citing domestic laws to justify violations of
international agreements. He warned that the court’s decision risks undermining
Iraq’s legal obligations and principles of good neighborly relations.
“The Khor Abdullah agreement is
not a border demarcation agreement but a framework for regulating maritime
traffic between Iraq and Kuwait,” he stressed.
Additionally, Kuwait criticized the court’s 2023 decision,
saying it was based on “historical fallacies.”
Khor Abdullah is a strategic waterway between Iraq and
Kuwait that provides Iraq with key maritime access via the port of Umm Qasr.
Shared by both countries, the estuary has long been essential for navigation
and trade.
