Iraq urges Iran to implement joint border agreements

BAGHDAD

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Sunday called on Iran to start the implementation of their joint land and sea border agreements.

Hussein met with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in New York on the sidelines of the meetings of the UN General Assembly 76th session.

During the meeting, the Iraqi minister urged Amir-Abdollahian to start the operational steps of the agreements related to the land and sea borders and to remove the sea-deposits in the course of the Shatt al-Arab, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

In 1975, the former Iraqi regime signed a water-sharing agreement regarding the Shatt al-Arab with Iran. But in 1980, Iraq annulled the agreement following the outbreak of the war between the two countries.

In 2007, Baghdad and Tehran resumed talks on the issue in an attempt to implement their previous agreements.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara