Kuwait Prime Minister: "Historical Misrepresentations" in Iraqi Ruling Regarding Khor Abdullah

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah confirmed that the Iraqi ruling regarding maritime navigation regulation in Khor Abdullah contains "historical misrepresentations." Kuwait News Agency reported him stating that the Iraqi government should take "concrete, decisive, and urgent measures to address the ruling." The Prime Minister's remarks came during his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia' Al-Sudani on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Tensions have escalated between Kuwait and Iraq after the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled that the ratification of the navigation agreement by the Iraqi parliament was unconstitutional. The Iraqi court stated that the ratification of international treaties and agreements should be by a law passed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of Representatives. The agreement was signed in 2012 and ratified by the parliaments of both countries in 2013. The media office of the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, stated that the Speaker received a delegation from the Kuwaiti National Assembly and emphasized "the importance of respecting and implementing bilateral agreements that serve the interests of both brotherly peoples." The statement did not specifically mention Khor Abdullah. The United Nations delineated the land borders between the two countries in 1993 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, but the delineation did not cover all of their maritime borders and left the matter for the oil-producing countries to resolve.