Waterway dispute rekindles tensions between Iraq and Kuwait

Shafaq News

A 2012 agreement regulating navigation in the Khor Abdullah waterway between Iraq and Kuwait remains highly controversial in Iraq. Critics warn the deal blurs maritime boundaries and threatens national sovereignty. Some call for its annulment, while others support renegotiation to better safeguard Iraq’s rights.

Kuwait maintains the maritime boundary and navigation rights in Khor Abdullah are firmly grounded in international law, insisting that any unilateral attempt by Iraq to revoke the agreement is invalid and unacceptable.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also lodged formal protests, urging Iraq to honour its commitments under binding international treaties. It further reaffirmed Kuwait’s sovereignty over its territorial waters and its right to shared navigation in the waterway.

Meanwhile, many Iraqis view the border demarcation, imposed by the US Security Council after expelling Saddam Hussein’s army in 1991, as unfair and exploitative of Iraq’s weakened state at the time.

This dispute highlights the fragile relations between Iraq and Kuwait, rooted in historical grievances over borders and sovereignty.

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