Zaydan breaks silence on Kuwait maritime dispute

The head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zaydan, has weighed in publicly on the long-running Khor Abdullah controversy in what appears to be a decisive intervention aimed at restoring legal certainty after nearly two years of confusion triggered by a ruling from the Federal Supreme Court in September 2023.

Writing in the Saudi-owned Alsharq Alawsat newspaper, Zaydan offered a legal analysis that defends the validity of the 2012 treaty between Iraq and Kuwait regulating maritime navigation in the Khor Abdullah waterway. The article comes after months of legal and political fallout, including diplomatic tension with Kuwait, domestic backlash, and significant uncertainty over the broader status of Iraq’s treaty commitments.