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This article deals with territorial disputes between states of in and around the Persian Gulf in Southwestern Asia. These states include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman.
Before the oil era, the Persian Gulf states made little effort to delineate their territories. Members of Arab tribes felt loyalty to their tribe or shaykh and tended to roam across the Arabian desert according to the needs of their flocks. Official boundaries meant little, and the concept of allegiance to a distinct political unit was absent. Organized authority was confined to ports and oases. Superintended by the British government, the boundaries of Kuwait, Iraq and the province of Al-Hasa were delineated at Uqair in 1922. The signing of the first oil concessions in the 1930s brought a fresh impetus to the process. Inland boundaries were never properly demarcated, leaving opportunities for contention, especially in areas of the most valuable oil deposits. Until 1971, British-led forces maintained peace and order in the Gulf, and British officials arbitrated local quarrels. After the withdrawal of these forces and officials, old territorial claims and suppressed tribal animosities resurfaced. The concept of the modern state — introduced into the Persian Gulf region by the European powers — and the sudden importance of boundaries to define ownership of oil deposits kindled acute territorial disputes. [1]
Iran has often laid claim to Bahrain, based on its history of being a prominent part of the Persian Empire and its seventeenth-century defeat of the Portuguese and its subsequent occupation of the Bahrain archipelago for many centuries. The Arab clan of the Al Khalifa, which has been the ruling family of Bahrain since the eighteenth century, has many times shown loyalty to Iran when disputes with the British were brought up by raising the Iranian flag on official buildings during the last years of the 19th century. Iran in return reserved two seats for Bahrain in her parliament, from 1906 to 1971, as her "14th province". The last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, raised the Bahrain issue with the British when they withdrew from areas east of the Suez Canal by 1971. Iran suggested a limited, UN-sponsored opinion poll to decide the fate of Bahrain. The UN declared the limited public opinion (conducted under serious limitations involving selected few tribal and political elite) to have favored independence. Iran recognized the outcome, and Bahrain was officially declared independent.
In 1971, after the British left the area Iranian forces claimed the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf between Iran and the UAE. The Iranians asserted their claims to the islands. Iran continued to hold the islands in 1993, and its action remained a source of contention with the UAE, which claimed authority by virtue of Britain's transfer of the islands to the emirates of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah. However, Britain had also agreed to give full authority to the Iranians in return for Iran's withdrawal of its claim on Bahrain. By late 1992, Sharjah and Iran had reached agreement with regard to Abu Musa, but Ras al-Khaimah had not reached a settlement with Iran concerning Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. [1] The UAE have attempted to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice, [2] but Iran refused. Tehran says the islands always belonged to it as it had never renounced possession of the islands, and that they are part of Iranian territory. [3]
Starting in 1936, Qatar and Bahrain were involved in territorial disputes over the Hawar Islands, Fasht Al Azm, Fasht Dibal, Qit'at Jaradah, and Zubarah. The most substantial dispute was the Fasht Dibal conflict in 1985, after Bahrain began constructing fortifications on the island. Qatar considered the construction to be a violation of an existing agreement made in 1978. [4] In April 1986, Qatari troops arrived on the island via helicopter and declared it a 'restricted zone'. They seized several Bahraini officials and 29 construction workers hired by the Dutch contracting company Ballast Nedam. [5] [4] On 12 May 1986, following protests by the Netherlands and mediation by several GCC member states, Bahrain and Qatar reached a settlement, after which the foreign workers were released. Qatari troops evacuated the island on 15 June. [5]
In 1991 the dispute flared up again after Qatar instituted proceedings to let the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, decide whether it had jurisdiction. The two countries exchanged complaints that their respective naval vessels had harassed the other's shipping in disputed waters. [1] In 1996, Bahrain boycotted the GCC summit hosted in Qatar, claiming that the last summit held in Qatar in 1990 was used as a platform to reiterate their territorial claims to the other GCC states. They also cited the 1986 Qatari incursion in Fasht Dibal as a reason for not attending. [6] The disputes were resolved by the International Court of Justice on 16 March 2001, awarding both sides equal amounts of land, giving Bahrain the Hawar Islands (excluding the Janan Island), Qit'at Jaradah, and Fasht Al Azm, with Qatar receiving Zubarah, Fasht Dibal, and the Janan Island. [7]
As one pretext for his invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saddam Hussein revived a long-standing Iraqi claim to the whole of Kuwait based on Ottoman Empire boundaries. The Ottoman Empire exercised a tenuous sovereignty over Kuwait in the late nineteenth century, but the area passed under British protection in 1899. In 1932, Iraq informally confirmed its border with Kuwait, which had previously been demarcated by the British. In 1961, after Kuwait's independence and the withdrawal of British troops, Iraq reasserted its claim to the emirate based on the Ottomans' having attached it to Basra Province. British troops and aircraft were rushed back to Kuwait. A Saudi Arabian-led force of 3,000 from the League of Arab States (Arab League) that supported Kuwait against Iraqi pressure soon replaced them. [1]
The boundary issue again arose when the Baath Party came to power in Iraq after a 1963 revolution. The new government officially recognized the independence of Kuwait and the boundaries Iraq had accepted in 1932. Iraq nevertheless reinstated its claims to Bubiyan and Warbah islands in 1973, massing troops at the border. During the 1980-88 Iran–Iraq War, Iraq pressed for a long-term lease to the islands in order to improve its access to the Persian Gulf and its strategic position. Although Kuwait rebuffed Iraq, relations continued to be strained by boundary issues and inconclusive negotiations over the status of the islands. [1]
In August 1991, Kuwait charged that a force of Iraqis, backed by gunboats, had attacked Bubiyan but had been repulsed and many of the invaders captured. UN investigators found that the Iraqis had come from fishing boats and had probably been scavenging for military supplies abandoned after the Persian Gulf War. Kuwait was suspected of having exaggerated the incident to underscore its need for international support against ongoing Iraqi hostility. [1]
Following the 2004 return of sovereignty to Iraq, Kuwait negotiated a 5 km "Area of Separation" agreement with the government of Iraq as part of Resolution 833. [8] That agreement expired in 2016, however neither government has moved military forces into the zone. Tensions have arisen over disputes concerning navigable waters covered under the agreement including the Khor Abdullah estuary. [9]
Smaller incidents have also arisen, primarily along the major road joining the two countries at the border control station known as "K Crossing." [10] These include small protests that included small arms fire, [11] militant threats to retaliate for "Kuwaiti incursions", [12] and "The Pajero Incident." The Pajero Incident was a reported approach of the border crossing station by several operatives maneuvering around a nearby range complex. [13] The incident got its name from the vehicle carrying the team, commonly used in Kuwait called the Pajero. [14] This incident was reportedly precipitated by a failure in navigation by an Operator known as "Harder." While no hostilities arose, several near accidents were caused as "Zeh" police vehicles attempted to respond at high speed. The Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior (MOI) has reported that IS poses no threat to the Kuwaiti border. [15]
Two disputes exist between the two countries over the territorial waters claimed through the land owned by Saudi Arabia between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. It is believed that the eastward side infringes into UAE territorial waters and has led to minor skirmishes between the two countries. [16]
The second dispute lies in the unusual extent of these waters from the Saudi coastline which explains how the above area extends further than expected by the Emiratis and is justified by Saudi Arabia. While no map exist on the internet, it is believed a corridor exists along the Qatari/Emirati maritime boundary on the Qatari side extending up to the Iranian maritime boundary. [17] This has been alluded to in documents submitted to the United Nations. [18] It would be expected that Iran would also dispute any corridor directly linking them to Saudi Arabia.
A particularly long and acrimonious disagreement involved claims over the Al Buraimi Oasis, disputed since the nineteenth century among tribes from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Oman. Although the tribes residing in the nine settlements of the oasis were from Oman and Abu Dhabi, followers of the Wahhabi religious movement that originated in what is now Saudi Arabia had periodically occupied and exacted tribute from the area. Oil prospecting began in the 1930s with the Iraq Petroleum Company creating subsidiary companies to explore and survey the area. In the late 1940s, Aramco survey parties began probing into Abu Dhabi territory with armed Saudi guards. Matters came to a head with a non-violent confrontation between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia in 1949 known as the "Stobart incident", named after a British political officer of the time. In 1952, the Saudi Arabians sent a small constabulary force under Mohammed Bin Nasser bin Ibrahim AlGhoson and his vice Turki bin Abdullah al Otaishan to occupy Hamasa, a village in the Buraimi Oasis. When arbitration efforts broke down in 1955, the British dispatched the Trucial Oman Scouts to expel the Saudi Arabian contingent. After the British withdrew from the Gulf, a settlement was reached between Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Under the Treaty of Jeddah (1974), Saudi Arabia recognized claims of Abu Dhabi and Oman to the oasis. In return, Abu Dhabi agreed to grant Saudi Arabia a land corridor to the Gulf at Khor Al Adaid and the oil from a disputed oil field. Some grazing and water rights remained in dispute. [1] In March 1990 Saudi Arabia settled her borders with Oman in an agreement that also provided for shared grazing rights and use of water resources. The exact details of the boundary were not disclosed. More recently, a dispute over the Dolphin Gas Project has renewed interest in the 1974 agreement. [19]
Earlier, the physical separation of the southern portion of Oman from its territory on the Musandam Peninsula was a source of friction between Oman and the various neighboring emirates that became the UAE in 1971. Differences over the disputed territory appeared to have subsided after the onset of the Iran–Iraq War in 1980. [1]
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. It is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz. The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline.
The United Arab Emirates is a country in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula located on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf and the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Oman. The UAE consists of seven emirates and was founded on 2 December 1971 as a federation, after UK armed forces left the region. Six of the seven emirates declared their union on 2 December 1971. The seventh, Ras al Khaimah, joined the federation on 10 February 1972. The seven sheikdoms were formerly known as the Trucial States, in reference to the truce treaties established with the British in the 19th century.
The United Arab Emirates is situated in the Middle East and West Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia; it is at a strategic location along the northern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil. The UAE lies between 22°50′ and 26° north latitude and between 51° and 56°25′ east longitude. It shares a 19 km (12 mi) border with Qatar on the northwest, a 530 km (330 mi) border with Saudi Arabia on the west, south, and southeast, and a 450 km (280 mi) border with Oman on the southeast and northeast.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
Abu Musa is an Iranian 12.8-square-kilometre (4.9 sq mi) island in the eastern Persian Gulf, found near the entrance of Strait of Hormuz. Due to the depth of sea, oil tankers and big ships have to pass between Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs, making these islands some of the most strategic points in the Persian Gulf. The island is under the administration of Iran, as part of the Hormozgan province.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, also known as Zayed the Great or Zayed the First was the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi from 1855 to his death in 1909. He was the grandfather and namesake of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, founder of the United Arab Emirates.
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf or the Arab Gulf states refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yemen is bound to the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, based on history and culture.
The dynamic between the League of Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been ambivalent, owing to the latter's varying bilateral conduct with each country of the former. Iran is located on the easternmost frontier of the Arab League, which consists of 22 Arab countries and spans the bulk of the Middle East and North Africa, of which Iran is also a part. The Arab League's population is dominated by ethnic Arabs, whereas Iran's population is dominated by ethnic Persians; and while both sides have Islam as a common religion, their sects differ, with Sunnis constituting the majority in the Arab League and Shias constituting the majority in Iran. Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country's Shia theocracy has attempted to assert itself as the legitimate religious and political leadership of all Muslims, contesting a status that has generally been understood as belonging to Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, where the cities of Mecca and Medina are located. This animosity, manifested in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, has greatly exacerbated the Shia–Sunni divide throughout the Muslim world.
The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces, with the United Kingdom between 1820 and 1892.
Relations between the neighboring countries of Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are deeply historic, dating back centuries prior to the establishment of the modern-day United Arab Emirates; however today are shaky and unpredictable. Both the countries maintain diplomatic relations with each other, having embassies in each other's capitals.
Bilateral relations exist between the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain. They first began in 1971.
This page details the match results and statistics of the Yemen national football team.
Iran–Qatar relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the State of Qatar. Iran has an embassy in Doha while Qatar has an embassy in Tehran. Qatar and Iran have close ties.
Saudi Arabia–Qatar relations refers to the current and historical relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. Prior to 2017, the two countries maintained cordial ties. Qatar was mainly subservient to Saudi Arabia in matters relating to foreign policy. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's assumption of power saw Qatar reclaim its sovereignty in foreign affairs, often diverging from Saudi Arabia on many geopolitical issues. In 1996, the Qatari government launched Al Jazeera in a bid to consolidate soft power. One of the most watched news stations in the Arab world, Al Jazeera proved to be a wedge in the two's bilateral relations as it routinely criticized Saudi Arabia's ruler. The network also provided a platform for Islamist groups which are considered a threat to Saudi Arabia's monarchy.
The Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border is 457 km (284 mi) in length and runs from the Persian Gulf coast in the west to the tripoint with Oman in the east.
The political history of the United Arab Emirates covers political events and trends related to the history of the United Arab Emirates.
Sir Julian Fortay WalkerCMGMBE, also known by his initials J. F. Walker, was a British Arabist, author, cartographer, land surveyor, former military officer and a retired diplomat who worked closely with Sheikh Rashid while serving as the last British representative to the Trucial States in Dubai for 11-months during the formation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971. He played an instrumental role in demarcating the present boundaries of the country's emirates as well as its borders with Oman during his capacity as an assistant political officer in the Trucial States and colonial Bahrain between the 1950s and 1960s.
Sir Charles "Jim" James TreadwellCMG CVO, also known by his initials C. J. Treadwell, was a British-New Zealand military officer, career diplomat and lawyer who served as the last British representative to the Trucial States in Abu Dhabi from 1968 to 1971 and later the first British ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 1971 to 1973 as well as the first British ambassador to the Bahamas between 1973 and 1975. He was one of the key advisors to Sheikh Zayed and worked closely with him during much of the formation of the United Arab Emirates. His uninviting remarks while addressing the leaders of the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms in 1969 contributed to the eventual fall of the Federation of Arab Emirates.
...The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a maritime zone which extends to the middle of the Arabian Gulf...
