Shafaq News- Basra

Iraq's maritime boundaries need legal and technical clarification in accordance with international maritime law, an Iraqi maritime expert said, stressing that the issue has direct implications for navigation, fishing and the exploitation of natural resources.

Speaking to Shafaq News on Saturday, Ali Juma explained that an exclusive economic zone is a maritime area recognized under the law of the sea for coastal states and generally extends up to 200 nautical miles from a country's baselines.

“Where neighboring coastlines are close, however, that limit cannot simply be applied without determining the maritime boundary under relevant legal rules and agreements,” he added, noting that Iraq's geographic position in the Gulf makes the delimitation of its maritime zones more complex.

Iraq submitted new lists of geographical coordinates to the United Nations in February 2026, covering its baselines, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. The new coordinates prompted Kuwait to file a formal objection with the United Nations, arguing that they affected its sovereignty over maritime areas. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) submitted a similar objection.

“Iraq’s submission constitutes an official filing, but does not by itself resolve disputes or disagreements over maritime boundaries between states,” Juma said, adding that the rights granted under the law of the sea within an exclusive economic zone concern the exploration, exploitation, management and protection of resources. “They do not give a state sovereignty over those waters in the same way as its territorial sea.”

Urging the issue to be addressed under international maritime laws and on the basis of documents deposited with the United Nations, Juma called for legal and diplomatic efforts to continue over disputed points with neighboring countries.

Longstanding tensions between Baghdad and Kuwait have persisted in recent years over navigation arrangements in Khor Abdullah and the completion of maritime border demarcation beyond border marker 162.

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.

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