Iran–Iraq border

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Map of the Iran–Iraq border

The Iran–Iraq border runs for 1,599 km (994 mi) from the tripoint with Turkey in the north down to the Shatt al-Arab (known as Arvand Rud in Iran) waterway and out to the Persian Gulf in the south.[1] Although the boundary was first determined in 1639, certain disputes continue, particularly surrounding navigation on the Shatt al-Arab.

Boundary line

The border starts in the north at the Turkish tripoint (at 37° 08' 44" N and 44° 47' 05" E). It then proceeds southwards via a series of irregular lines through the

WGS84
).

History

Ottoman era (1500s–1920)

The

Tigris River, though a precise lines was not drawn at that time.[8]

During the

Ottoman–Hotaki War (1722–1727) the Ottomans invaded Iran in league with Russia, gaining large parts of north-west Iran via the Treaty of Hamedan.[8] Another war followed in the 1740s which was ended by the Treaty of Kerden in 1746, which restored Iran's western provinces and re-affirmed the 1639 Zuhab border.[9][8]

Detailed map of the border in the Shatt al-Arab

The Ottoman–Persian War (1821–1823) ended with the signing of the First Treaty of Erzurum, which re-affirmed the 1639 Zuhab border.[10][11][8] A boundary commission involving Iranian, Ottoman, Russian and British officials assisted with the boundary delimitation, resulting in the Second Treaty of Erzurum of 1847 which affirmed the 1639 border with some small modifications.[12][8] The new treaty first raised the issue of the Shatt al-Arab waterway; the boundary was set at the eastern bank of the river so that the entire waterway remained under Ottoman control, whilst allowing that “Persian vessels shall have the right to navigate freely without let or hindrance”.[8] The four-way boundary commission resumed its work in the following years, and after much work and cartographic disputation a detailed map was produced in 1869.[8]

Despite the work of the commission, disputes concerning the precise boundary alignment continued. The Ottomans and Iran agreed to work on a more precise demarcation in 1911 at the urging of Russia and the Britain, both of whom had colonial aspirations in the region.[8][13][14][15] From November 1913-October 1914 a boundary commission established the Constantinople Protocol, providing a detailed delimitation of the entire boundary, and also confirmed Ottoman control of the Shatt al-Arab.[8] In general, the line was to follow the east bank of the waterway except in the region surrounding the Iranian town of Khorramshahr, where it was to follow the thalweg.[8] The four-nation boundary commission then surveyed the border on the ground and demarcated it with pillars, producing a detailed series of map depicting the confirmed frontier.[8]

Colonial and independent Iraq (1920–present)

During the

Republic of Turkey established in 1923.[8] Iraq later gained independence in 1932.[8]

Map showing the major areas of fighting during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)

The border was challenged by Iran in 1934 at the League of Nations, with the validity of both the Treaty of Erzurum and the Constantinople Protocol being called into question.[8] The dispute was resolved in 1937, following the general lines of the old boundary, with the exception of the area immediately around the Iranian town of Abadan, where the boundary was moved from the east bank to the thalweg, as had been done around Khorramshahr two decades earlier.[8][16]

While that resolved Iran's major grievances, it failed to respond to the issue of freedom of navigation in the Shatt al-Arab. The issue rumbled on in the following decades, with Iraq adopting a more assertive foreign policy in the 1970s following the rise of

Khuzestan province, with Iran supporting Kurdish rebels in Iraq.[16] A peace agreement was signed on 6 March 1975 in Algiers in which both parties pledged to further demarcate the border, both on land and in the Shatt al-Arab, based upon the Erzurum Treaty and Constantinople Protocol.[8][20] A further treaty was signed in Baghdad that year, confirming the Algiers provisions, along with maps marking the border.[8]

Relations soured once again in 1979, as Saddam Hussein formally took office and the

invaded Iran, leading to the eight-year long Iran–Iraq War.[21] Almost the entire ground war was fought in close proximity to the international boundary, though the conflict resulted in stalemate and following the end of fighting no changes to the border were made.[22] Relations were restored in 1990 and have improved substantially since the overthrow
of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Settlements near the border

Iran

Iraq

Border crossings

An Iran-Iraq border crossing in Mehran in 2015

There are four border crossings between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan:Parviz border (in Sulaymaniyah Governorate/ Kermanshah province),[23]Haji Omeran (in Erbil Governorate), Bashmaq (in Kurdistan province/ Sulaymaniah Governorate),[24] and (from 2016) at Sayran Ban located in the town of Penjwen in Sulaymaniyah Governorate.[25]

There are border crossings between the rest of Iraq and Iran at Khosravi/Manzarieh,[26] Mehran/Zurbatiyah,[27] Chazabeh/Al Shaib, Shalamcheh and Soomar/Mandali.[28][24] In 2023, the Iraqi government was working on the construction of 47 installations along its border with Iran.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ CIA World Factbook - Iraq, retrieved 4 April 2020
  2. ^ 'The Reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, 1520–1566', V.J. Parry, in A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730, ed. M.A. Cook (Cambridge University Press, 1976), 94.
  3. ISBN 1598843362
    p 698
  4. ISBN 978-1610693899
    .
  5. ^ Somel, Selçuk Akşin, Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire, (Scarecrow Press Inc., 2003), 306
  6. ISBN 978-0415966924
    .
  7. ^ "The Origin and Development of Imperialist Contention in Iran; 1884–1921". History of Iran. Iran Chamber Society. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r International Boundary Study No. 164 – Iran-Iraq Boundary (PDF), 13 July 1978, archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2019, retrieved 4 April 2020
  9. ISBN 978-1598843361
    .
  10. ISBN 9781107033658
    .
  11. ISBN 9781598843361
    .
  12. ISBN 90-04-16785-4
    ), p. 6.
  13. ^ Kazemzadeh, Firuz. Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864–1914: A Study in Imperialism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968.
  14. ^ Siegel, Jennifer. Endgame: Britain, Russia, and the Final Struggle for Central Asia. London and New York: Tauris, 2002.
  15. ^ White, John Albert. Transition to Global Rivalry: Alliance Diplomacy and the Quadruple Entente, 1895–1907. Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84176-371-2
    .
  17. ISBN 978-0-413-61370-7
    .
  18. ^ Pipes, Daniel (1983). "A Border Adrift: Origins of the Iraq-Iran War". New Weapons. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  19. ^ Abdulghani, J. M. (1984). Iraq and Iran: The Years of Crisis. London. p. 142.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. ^ Karsh, Efraim The Iran–Iraq War 1980–1988, London: Osprey, 2002 page 8
  21. ISBN 978-0-8133-0955-2
    .
  22. ISBN 9781560725930
    .
  23. ^ "Iran re-opens border crossings with Iraqi Kurdistan region". Reuters. 2 January 2018.
  24. ^ a b Caravanistan - Iran-Iraq border crossings, retrieved 5 April 2020
  25. ^ "Sayran ban". Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Iraq Opens Another Border Crossing with Iran". 24 July 2020.
  27. ^ "گذرگاه مرزی مهران-زرباطیه عراق بازگشایی شد".
  28. ^ "Trade with Iraq Rising". 7 April 2015.
  29. ^ "Baghdad to intensify security measures on Iran-Iraq zero line - Mehr News Agency".
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