Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq and Kuwait agreed to form a joint working group to review outstanding issues and submit a roadmap and recommendations to the two countries’ leaders within 30 days, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Media Office said on Saturday.

The agreement followed a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi and Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The PM’s office said the team will meet alternately in Baghdad and Kuwait and continue its work until it completes its mandate.

Both sides pledged to support the group’s efforts to resolve outstanding issues and strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Among the main issues in Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations in recent years are navigation arrangements in Khor Abdullah and the completion of maritime border demarcation beyond border marker 162.

Khor Abdullah And Tuwaynah Disputes

Iraq and Kuwait signed the Khor Abdullah agreement in 2012 to regulate navigation in the shared waterway, which connects Iraq’s main southern ports, including Umm Qasr and Grand Al-Faw, to the Gulf. The issue remains contentious in Iraq, particularly after the Federal Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the law ratifying the agreement was unconstitutional, renewing debate over maritime boundaries, sovereignty, and economic interests.

Iraqi lawmakers have also raised questions over the country’s potential rights around the offshore Dorra gas field, known in Iraq as Tuwaynah. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia agreed in 2022 to jointly develop the field, while Iran also claims rights to part of it.

Read more: Iraq’s UN maritime move reopens Arab fault lines over Khor Abdullah