Iranian-Iraqi Agreements: The 1975 Agreement as an Example

Abstract

The Iraqi-Iranian border problems have always occupied an important position in Iraq's foreign policy as early as the foundation of the modern political formation in Iraq. Since that time, many Iraqi governments and regimes have struggled to settle border disputes with Iran, however, these governments had been unable to resolve this problematic issue. Though many bilateral and international attempts and mediations had been reached, Iran used to insist to be entitled to most Iraqi territorial waters. In 1973, the then-Iraqi kingdom reached an agreement with Iran, but this agreement has proved inconclusive. Decades later on, under Iraq’s Baathist regime, brokered by a joint Jordanian-Egyptian mediation, Iraq, and Iran concluded the so-called Algeria agreement in 1975. Under that agreement, Iraq lost many territorial waters and lands, by force and manipulation, and thus, Iran could claim several other border parts and areas, irrespective of Iraqi justifications and appeals to the international community to reclaim these parts. The Algeria agreement in 1975 outlived the Baathist regime as Iran gained a lot through this agreement. Iraq’s Baathist decades-long regime has taken advantage of that agreement in order to remain in power as long as possible having depended on diplomacy as a means to mitigate border disputes.