Iraq–Kuwait relations

The international relations of Iraq and Kuwait have been turbulent, fuelled by Iraqi debt and conflicts over oil.

History

In 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi oil through slant drilling, however some Iraqi sources indicated Saddam Hussein's decision to attack Kuwait was made only a few months before the actual invasion.^[1] Some feel there were several reasons for the Iraq move, including Iraq's inability to pay more than $80 billion that had been borrowed to finance the war with Iran and also Kuwaiti overproduction of oil which kept oil revenues down for Iraq.^[2] The invasion started on August 2, 1990, and within two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or escaped to neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The state of Kuwait was annexed, and Hussein announced in a few days that it was the 19th province of Iraq.

During the Gulf War, Kuwait would soon be liberated by coalition forces. Since the fall of the Ba'ath Party regime in Iraq, relations have improved between the two states. On April 25, 2007, Kuwaiti lawmaker Saleh Ashour called in a statement for reopening Kuwait's embassy in Baghdad and for strongly supporting the government in Baghdad; Al-Ghanim, however, said he believes that it was too early to reopen the Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad and that this issue should wait until security situations improve.^[3]

References

See also

• Foreign relations of Iraq
• Foreign relations of Kuwait