Kuwaiti relations - Iran 1961 - 1990 historical study

Abstract

The Emirate of Kuwait was unwilling to terminate the protection treaty signed with Britain on January 23, 1899, which detracted from Kuwaiti sovereignty, so that Kuwait would become a fully sovereign state (1), so the protection agreement of 1899 was canceled on June 19, 1961, according to an agreement between Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al-Sabah * Emir of Kuwait and Mr. William Henry Tucker Luce, the British Political Resident in the Arabian Gulf, and according to this agreement, Kuwait officially gained its independence and all previous agreements between the two countries that were inconsistent with the independence of Kuwait were canceled, and relations based on friendship were built between the two parties (2) Iraq tried to take advantage of Kuwait’s disengagement from Britain and annex it to it, and on the 25th of June 1961, the Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassem** announced in a press conference held in his headquarters that Iraq had the right to the Kuwaiti lands, and claimed that Kuwait is part of the soil Iraqi National (3), so the Kuwaiti government requested assistance from the British government and the League of Arab States, and this sparked Arab, regional and international reactions for fear of an Iraqi military attack on Kuwait (4). The Iranian government congratulated Kuwait through a message sent by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi***, on the occasion of independence, carried by an Iranian delegation that arrived in Kuwait on July 7, 1961. The crisis between Iraq and Kuwait, Baghdad prevented its exports from Kuwait, and Kuwait faced a severe shortage of foodstuffs and a scarcity of fresh water (6), and to overcome this crisis, there was a shipment of many boats loaded with fresh water and foodstuffs from Iranian ports towards Kuwaiti ports (7 It is noteworthy that Iraq has frozen the funds of Kuwaitis in Iraqi banks and confiscated ten Kuwaiti ships that were parked in its ports (8). In fact, the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hashim Jawad al-Awati**** stated that his country would reconsider its diplomatic relations with all countries that recognized Officially in Kuwait and severed its diplomatic relations with all countries that recognized the independence of Kuwait, including Iran (9).