Iran accuses Kuwait of exploiting disputed offshore field

In a new twist in the diplomatic standoff over the Arash field, a top Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard general claims Kuwait has begun exploiting disputed oil and gas reserves in the Persian Gulf.

Abdolreza Abed, the commander of the IRGC's Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters told domestic reporters on Tuesday that there is evidence the Kuwaitis created a company to utilize the contested field and a call for tenders has been issued.

"However, they should know that the Arash field is the inalienable right of the Iranian people," Abed said.

The offshore oil and gas field, partly in Kuwaiti and Saudi territorial waters at the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf, is called Al-Durra by Arab countries and Arash by Iran. One part of the field falls also within Iran's territorial waters. The field has been a point of contention and diplomatic disputes among these three countries for decades due to overlapping territorial claims.

In March 2022, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation announced the signing of a contract between Saudi Arabia's energy minister and his Kuwaiti counterpart to develop the Al-Durra field, which is expected to produce one billion cubic feet per day of gas and 84,000 barrels per day of condensates.

Khatam-al Anbiya, Iran’s major engineering and construction conglomerate, belongs to the IRGC and frequently secures large government contracts without competitive bidding, fueling accusations of corruption, favoritism, and monopolization. Sanctioned by the US and EU for supporting the IRGC's ballistic missile program and regional military operations, it is also criticized for exploiting Iran's oil and gas resources to benefit the IRGC rather than the broader economy, with controversial involvement in projects like the South Pars gas field.

According to state media, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Tuesday reportedly called for a return to negotiations and bilateral dialogue to reach an agreement between the neighbors.

Seemingly in response to the latest news, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a former member of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament tweeted out his take on the issue. In a post on X, he wrote that "The Arabs' claim today about #Arash and #IranianIslands is the flip side of the #Zangezur coin—a counterfeit coin", implying that Arab claims over the Arash field and Iranian islands are viewed as baseless, similar to disputes over the Zangezur region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Falahatpisheh’s post also referenced that Iran's current trajectory of political isolation and unresolved major disputes is encouraging smaller regional actors to challenge its positions, leading to more complex and multifaceted conflicts.

In August, Abed had also challenged Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti claims that the field, off Kuwait’s coast, is within their territorial waters, saying that “Iran's entry into the Arash field is more essential than daily bread.”

At that time, reports suggested Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had invited the Islamic Republic to negotiate over their territorial borders in the region.

The field was discovered in 1967 with an estimated 310 million barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. Iran, claiming 40% of the field lies in its waters, argues that development without its consent violates international law, however it is not clear if it has the technical ability to explore the underwater field. Kuwait and Saudi Arabian can extract oil and gas from their undisputed sector, leaving Iran to do what it can in the its northern part.

Iran's main South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf is shared with Qatar, but each extracts gas in its own sector.