Kuwait has summoned Iraq’s chargé d’affaires to protest Baghdad’s submission to the UN of maritime coordinates and a map, saying the submission “infringes on Kuwaiti sovereignty” over established maritime areas.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Iraq “had deposited a list of coordinates and a map with the UN that included claims regarding Iraqi maritime domains.”
It said the coordinates and map affect its sovereignty over maritime areas and fixed water elevations, including Fasht Al-Qaid and Fasht Al-Aij, which it described as not subject to any dispute regarding Kuwait’s full sovereignty.
The ministry said Acting Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Rahim Al-Daihani summoned Zaid Abbas Shanshal “to deliver a formal protest note over Iraqi claims affecting Kuwait’s maritime sovereignty and related water elevations.”
Kuwait urged Iraq to take into account the historical ties between the two countries and to act responsibly in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and bilateral understandings and agreements.
The UNCLOS entered into force in 1994 and establishes a comprehensive legal framework governing the world’s oceans, setting rules for the allocation of states’ rights and jurisdiction in maritime zones, the peaceful use of seas and oceans, and the management of marine resources.
Earlier Saturday, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said it had deposited updated lists of coordinates for Iraq’s territorial sea baselines and maritime zones with the UN secretary-general on January 19 and February 9, in accordance with UNCLOS provisions.
It said the submission includes the determination of straight baselines and baselines drawn along the low-water line for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea, as well as the delimitation of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of Iraq, in accordance with the internationally recognised World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS-84).
Baghdad said the deposit replaces previous submissions dated December 7, 2021, and April 15, 2011, and aims “to update Iraq’s maritime data in line with the provisions of international law and enhance the legal clarity of the boundaries of maritime zones subject to Iraq’s sovereignty and sovereign rights.”
Iraq also said the coordinates and chart have been published on the website of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea and reiterated its commitment to international law and regional stability.
