Iraq submitted new maritime boundary claims to the UN on 19 January and 8 February that extend well into Kuwait’s claimed waters. Kuwait and fellow GCC states responded swiftly and forcefully this week, rejecting the move as a violation of Kuwaiti sovereignty.
The Iraq-Kuwait maritime boundary remains one of the region’s few unresolved border disputes and a recurring source of friction between the neighbors. It sits within a longer history of tensions that came to a head when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. The subsequent UN-led process to restore Kuwaiti sovereignty reshaped the framework governing bilateral borders. But while the land boundary was demarcated by the UN in 1993, it stopped at Point No. 162 in the Khor Abdullah waterway, leaving the remaining maritime segment for the two states to negotiate bilaterally. 33 years later they have yet to do so. (CONTINUED – 899 WORDS)
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