Iran has struck back at claims from the Gulf Cooperation Council on the ownership of three islands in the Persian Gulf and an offshore gas field.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the islands Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb were sovereign Iranian territory and so was the Arash gas field, calling the claims made earlier this week “hackneyed and legally baseless”.
The Arash gas field, called Dorra by the Arab Gulf states, is a disputed asset between Iran and Kuwait. It was discovered in the 1960s, on the edge of Kuwait’s eastern maritime border. Iran says the field extends into its territorial waters and claims partial ownership. The estimated reserves in the field stand at some 220 billion cubic meters but exploration has been hindered by the long-running dispute.
In July, Kuwait said it had started construction of an onshore gas processing plant to be fed from the Dorra field. Reports in Arab media described the field as located in the neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The two signed a joint development deal for the field in 2022. In its Monday statement, the Gulf Cooperation Council said the islands were Kuwaiti territory occupied by Iran and the Dorra field was entirely Kuwaiti property.
The GCC “confirmed that the Al Durra field is located entirely within the maritime areas of the State of Kuwait and that the ownership of the natural resources in the partitioned submerged area adjacent to the Saudi-Kuwaiti partitioned zone, including the entire Al Durra field, is a joint ownership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait only.”
In its response, the Iranian side rejected what it called “one-sided claims” by Kuwait and called for “bilateral dialogue, joint efforts, and a positive, constructive atmosphere”.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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