Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

have longstanding historical ties spanning hundreds of years, particularly in the pre-oil era. Relations were negatively influenced by the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

in 1979 and the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

in the 1980s. Relations improved after the

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country for the next seven months ...

20th century

Historically, Kuwait had close political, economic, and cultural ties to Iran. In 1961, Kuwait became an independent country. In the 1980s, Kuwait sided with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

during the

. As a result, Iranian–Kuwaiti relations were damaged and Iran had placed Kuwaiti ships, including tankers, under attack. Kuwait's relations with Iran later improved when Iran denounced Iraq for invading Kuwait in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

at 1991.

Recent history

Iran's foreign policy shifted with the election of more hardline Ahmadinejad in 2005, negatively influenced its relationship with the international community. Things improved when Hassan Rouhani came to power in 2013. In 2014, Kuwait Foreign Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said it is keen on developing "excellent and historical" relationship with Iran. According to the US government, Kuwait is concerned about Iranian regional ambitions in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. However, Kuwait continues to maintain friendly relations with Iran. In 2018, after U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

announced the United States withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal Kuwait opted to maintain formal ties with Iran while

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

voiced strong support for the withdrawal. Previously Kuwait declined to follow Saudi Arabia's lead in severing diplomatic relations following the

2016 attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran The 2016 attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran was a mob action on 2 January 2016 by protesters demonstrating against the execution of prominent Saudi Arabian Shi'a cleric Nimr al-Nimr, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Mobs stormed the Saudi embassy ...

. In 2018, Kuwait's announced plans for economic development, such as the " Silk City project", includes developing mutually beneficial economic ties with Iran (similar to Iran's current economic ties with

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

of the

). During the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020, Kuwait provided US$10 million in humanitarian aid to Iran. On March 26, 2022, Iran said that an agreement signed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to develop the Durra gas field was "illegal" since Tehran has a stake in the field and must be included in any move to operate and develop it. On April 13, 2022, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait invited Iran to conduct talks on Wednesday to define the eastern border of a combined, energy-rich offshore area, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA. On July 27, 2023, Kuwait's Oil minister Saad Al Barrak announced plans to begin drilling for gas without first signing an agreement with Iran. On August 3, 2023, In an escalating feud with Iran, Kuwait along with Saudi Arabia announced that they have “exclusive ownership” of the natural resources in the disputed Durra offshore gas field. Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji stressed that Tehran will pursue its rights over the Durra-Arash gas field if there is “no willingness” from the other side to “reach an understanding.” The same day Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Salem Abdullah al-Jaber Al-Sabah received an official invite to Iran during a meeting with Mohammad Totonchi, the Gulf state’s newly appointed Iranian ambassador. It is expected that the upcoming visit will center around de-escalating tensions over the gas field.

Ajam citizens

'Ajam of Kuwait The Ajam of Kuwait (), also known as Persian Kuwaitis, are Kuwaiti citizens of Iranian peoples, Iranian descent. The majority of Shia Islam in Kuwait, Shia Kuwaiti citizens are of Iranian descent, although there are Ajam Kuwaitis who are Islam in ...

(Persians of Kuwait) are Kuwaiti citizens of Iranian origin. Historically, Persian ports provided most of Kuwait's economic needs. Marafi Behbahani was one of the first Iranian merchants to settle in Kuwait in the 18th century. Most Shia Kuwaiti citizens are of Iranian ancestry. However, many Kuwaitis of Iranian origin are Sunni Muslims such as the Al-Kandari and Awadhi families of Larestani ancestry. Some Kuwaitis of Iranian Balochi origin are Sunni Muslim. Balochi families first immigrated to Kuwait in the 19th century. The

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

sub-dialects of Larestani, Khonji, Bastaki and Gerashi have influenced the vocabulary of

Kuwaiti Arabic Kuwaiti (, ) is a Gulf Arabic dialect spoken in Kuwait. Kuwaiti Arabic shares many phonetic features unique to Gulf dialects spoken in the Arabian Peninsula. Due to Kuwait's soap opera industry, knowledge of Kuwaiti Arabic has spread throughou ...

20th century

Recent history

Ajam citizens

See also

References

Further reading