Iraqi MPs back federal court decision on Khor Abdullah
On Thursday (July 24, 2025), Iraqi MP Amer Abdul Jabbar revealed that he submitted a request signed by 194 lawmakers to the Federal Court, expressing their support for its decision regarding the Khor Abdullah agreement's cancellation. Abdul Jabbar stated to Shafaq News Agency, 'Today, we met with the head of the Federal Court and delivered a request signed by 194 representatives, supporting the court's decision on the Khor Abdullah agreement.'
Abdul Jabbar urged Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to implement the Federal Court's ruling, which invalidated the law ratifying the agreement. He called upon Iraqis to participate in peaceful demonstrations on Friday afternoon to support the Federal Court's decision.
Shafaq News obtained a copy of the document signed by 194 MPs, which explicitly rejects the 'humiliating Khor Abdullah agreement.' The document demands that the Prime Minister implement Federal Court Decision No. 105 / unified 194 / federal / 2023, issued on April 9, 2023. It further calls for the decision to be deposited with the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as per a Ministry of Foreign Affairs letter dated December 25, 2023. Following this, the document urges re-negotiations with Kuwait, stipulating that the Iraqi negotiating team should consist of specialized experts free from political interference, and that negotiations be held in Baghdad or a mutually agreed upon neutral third country.
The Khor Abdullah navigation regulation agreement, signed in 2012 between Iraq and Kuwait, was initially a technical and administrative response to the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent border demarcation under United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 833 of 1993. Article 6 of the agreement explicitly stated that it 'does not affect the borders between the two parties in Khor Abdullah as determined by Security Council Resolution No. 833 of 1993.'
The Iraqi Council of Ministers ratified the draft law for the agreement's approval in late 2012, and the Council of Representatives passed it by a simple majority under Law No. 42 of 2013. It was subsequently published in the Iraqi Gazette on November 25, 2013, leading to the agreement's entry into force.
The recent Federal Court decision (2023) appears to have invalidated the 2013 ratification law, contending it should have been approved by a two-thirds majority. This contrasts with a prior Federal Court decision (No. 21/federal/2014) dated December 18, 2014, which distinguished between laws governing treaty ratification (requiring a two-thirds majority under Article 61/Fourth of the Constitution) and specific treaty ratification laws (requiring a simple majority under Article 59/Second).
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