Iraq and Kuwait seek to resolve dispute over land, maritime borders decades after Saddam Hussein's invasion

Foreign ministers of Iraq and Kuwait said on Sunday (July 30) that the countries will work towards reaching a definitive agreement about demarcating their land as well as the contested maritime area of the Gulf. This comes as the countries have sought to solve the decades-long issues dating back to Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of the oil-rich country.

What was discussed?

The Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein following the discussions with his Kuwaiti counterpart Salem Al-Sabah in Baghdad on Sunday, said that during their talks they emphasised “on resolving the border issues”.

He also spoke about how the border talks would “continue through various technical committees”. Reportedly, the two countries have also sought to resolve disputes overjoint oilfields.

The Iraqi capital city will also host a meeting of a legal committee relating to the talks on August 14 which will also reportedly be followed by a visit from Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saad Al Barrak on September 10.

Meanwhile, Al-Sabah reaffirmed that there was “complete consensus” between Kuwait and Iraq to “resolve outstanding problems between the two countries, particularly the demarcation of maritime boundaries”.

This comes as the Iraqi government under Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani has sought closer ties with Arab Gulf monarchies in a bid to strengthen regional economic cooperation and counter the flow of narcotics.

What is the decades-long border issue about?

The talks on Sunday also came after Iraq in 2021, made the final payment of war reparations for the damage inflicted to its neighbour amounting to $52 billion. In August 1990, Saddam’s forces invaded the oil-rich country and annexed it.

Months later, an international coalition led by the United States drove Saddam’s forces out of Kuwait. Since then, both countries have been meeting to solve their border issues but have made very little progress.

The land border between the neighbouring states was established by the United Nations in 1993, years after Iraq under Saddam invaded Kuwait. While the officials in Baghdad have previously expressed readiness to recognise Kuwait’s land border, the maritime border remains a point of contention.

This comes as Iraq says that the delineation should provide it unhindered access to Gulf waters which is said to be a lifeline for its economy as well as oil exports.

However, given the decades-long dispute, Kuwaiti coastguards regularly detain Iraqi fishermen and seize their vessels for entering Kuwaiti territorial waters “illegally”.

Meanwhile, Iraqi fishermen have complained of harassment by Kuwaiti fishermen and havealleged that they do not respect maritime boundaries.

(With inputs from agencies)

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