A high-ranking Iranian diplomat has handed a protest note to Kuwait’s Ambassador to Tehran Badr Abdullah al-Munikh over the Arab country’s controversial one-sided statements on the Arash natural gas field, which is shared among Iran and its southwestern neighbors.
Mohammad Alibek, an aide to Iran’s foreign minister and the director general of the ministry’s Persian Gulf Department, delivered the note in a meeting with the Kuwaiti envoy on Thursday evening to inform him of Tehran’s dissatisfaction with the Kuwait City’s approach.
“Making one-sided claims in various statements and through media undoubtedly cannot be a step forward to resolve the issue, and will not establish any rights for the party uttering such assertions,” Alibek pointed out.
The Iranian diplomat further noted that Tehran believes that an agreement on the matter could be reached in an atmosphere of cooperation and respect for common interests, than by means of unilateral assertions.
Alibek also emphasized Iran’s readiness to start a new round of negotiations with the Kuwaiti government aimed at coming up with a mutually satisfactory solution to the dispute over the Arash field.
For his part, Munikh pointed to the age-old and friendly ties between Kuwait and Iran, and underlined his country’s resolve to expand relations with its northeastern neighbor.
The Kuwaiti ambassador also said he would convey the protest to his government and provide Iran with a response.
Earlier this month, Iran reminded Kuwait that unilateral claims on the Arash natural gas field would obstruct the settlement of a territorial dispute over the energy reservoir on the basis of mutual interests.
In a statement on February 14, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said Tehran has always emphasized that the Arash field row should be resolved through dialogue based on the previous negotiations of experts.
He added that Iran “believes that an agreement on this issue can be reached in an atmosphere of cooperation and respect for common interests.”
A joint statement issued on February 13 by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifah claimed that the gas field is located entirely within the maritime borders of Kuwait and that its natural resources are shared between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The dispute over the Arash gas field, which Kuwaitis call al-Durra, dates back to the 1960s when Iran and Kuwait were awarded overlapping offshore concessions for the field following its discovery.
The dispute has seen several cycles of claims and counter-claims by the parties involved, becoming a key sticking point in relations between the three Persian Gulf neighbors.
The field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, which could produce one billion cubic feet per day. Nearly 40% of the Arash gas field is located in Iranian waters.
