Iraq–Kuwait border

Invasion and demarcation

Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and was driven out in 1991. In 1993 the UN Security Council, in resolution 833, settled the land border between the two countries.^[2] The UN demarcation covered the 216 km boundary but not the full maritime line, which was left to the two oil producers to agree.^[1]

The issue remains sensitive on both sides. Many Iraqis see the demarcation as unfairly imposed while their country was weak; for Kuwaitis the 1990 invasion keeps alive fears of Iraqi overreach. In early 2022 Iraq paid the last of $52.4 billion in reparations for the invasion.^[2]

Khor Abdullah

Khor Abdullah is a narrow waterway curving between Kuwait’s Bubiyan and Warba islands and Iraq’s Al Faw Peninsula, Iraq’s only entrance to the Gulf and the route for most of its oil exports. Iraqis say it is named after a Basra fisherman; Kuwaitis after Abdullah bin Sabah, Kuwait’s second ruler.^[2]

A 2012 agreement, ratified by both parliaments in 2013, regulates navigation and safety in the waterway and says it has no effect on the 1993 boundary. Iraqi critics argue that it effectively draws a sea border beyond the last UN point; Kuwait says its rights rest on international law.^[2][1] In 2023 Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled the ratification invalid because it lacked a two-thirds majority.^[1]

In February 2026 Iraq filed new maritime coordinates with the UN. Kuwait called it a violation of its sovereignty, and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE backed Kuwait.^[1]

“shall have no effect upon the boundary”^[2]