Shafaq News/ Iran will pursue its rights over the Durra/Arash field if other parties shun cooperation, the country’s Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Sunday, according to the Oil Ministry's SHANA news agency.

“If there is no willingness to cooperate, Iran will pursue its rights and benefits, including the exploitation and exploration of the Arash gas field, and will not tolerate any violation of its rights,” Owji said.

On Thursday, the Kuwait oil minister had told SkyNews Arabia that his country will start drilling and begin production at the Durra gas field without waiting for border demarcation with Iran.

Al-Barrak has previously said that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have “exclusive rights” in the Durra gas field in the Gulf, calling on Iran to validate its claim to the field by demarcating its own maritime borders first.

Iran previously claimed a stake in the field and described a Saudi-Kuwaiti agreement signed last year to develop the field as “illegal.”