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Kuwait: Durra Gas Field is Saudi-Kuwaiti in its Entirety, Iran Has No Rights over It

A file photo of a gas plant. Reuters.
A file photo of a gas plant. Reuters.
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Kuwait: Durra Gas Field is Saudi-Kuwaiti in its Entirety, Iran Has No Rights over It

A file photo of a gas plant. Reuters.
A file photo of a gas plant. Reuters.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al Sabah said on Tuesday that Iran was not a party to Al-Durra field, which is “purely Kuwaiti-Saudi.”

Referring to statements he made during a joint press conference with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Sheikh Ahmed said he meant “negotiations regarding the continental shelf, namely the tripartite negotiations involving Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran aimed at demarcating the borders of the continental shelf between the three countries.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Kuwaiti minister underlined that Iran was not a party to Al-Durra field, which is Kuwaiti-Saudi in its entirety.

He noted that only Kuwait and Saudi Arabia enjoyed investment rights in this field in accordance with previously ratified bilateral agreements.

Last week, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agreed to develop the Durra offshore gas field that lies in the shared neutral zone between the two nations. The agreement was signed by Kuwait’s Oil Minister Mohammad Al Fares and his Saudi counterpart Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Kuwait’s official news agency KUNA reported.

The offshore gas field is expected to produce 1 billion cubic feet per day of gas and 84,000 barrels per day of condensate.

In response, Iran said that the Saudi-Kuwaiti agreement was “illegal”, claiming that Tehran also had a share in the field and must be included in any action to operate it.

This is not the first time that the Iranian government has claimed that it owns a share in the gas field, which it calls Arash.

Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji recently said that Tehran has completed comprehensive studies of Arash, “by drilling exploration wells and conducting seismic surveys”, according to local media reports.

“With the installation of a jacket, the drilling operation in the field will begin soon,” he noted.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait expressed, in a joint letter submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, their protest against the repeated attacks and abuses by Iran’s military boats in the maritime area that is adjacent to the neutral zone.

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Qatari Mission Searches for Bodies of Americans Killed by ISIS in Syria

A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)
A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)
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Qatari Mission Searches for Bodies of Americans Killed by ISIS in Syria

A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)
A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)

A Qatari mission has begun searching for the remains of US hostages killed by ISIS in Syria a decade ago, two sources briefed on the mission told Reuters, reviving a longstanding effort to recover their bodies.

ISIS, which controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq at the peak of its power from 2014-2017, beheaded numerous people in captivity, including Western hostages, and released videos of the killings.

Qatar's international search and rescue group began the search on Wednesday, accompanied by several Americans, the sources said. The group, deployed by Doha to earthquake zones in Morocco and Türkiye in recent years, had so far found the remains of three bodies, the sources said.

One of the sources - a Syrian security source - said the remains had yet to be identified. The second source said it was unclear how long the mission would last.

The US State Department had no immediate comment.

The Qatari mission gets under way as US President Donald Trump prepares to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar next week and as Syria's new rulers seek relief from US sanctions.

The Syrian source said the mission's initial focus was on looking for the body of aid worker Peter Kassig, who was beheaded by ISIS in 2014 in Dabiq in northern Syria. The second source said Kassig's remains were among those they hoped to find.

US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were among other Western hostages killed by ISIS. Their deaths were confirmed in 2014.

US aid worker Kayla Mueller was also killed in ISIS captivity. Her death was confirmed in 2015.

"We’re grateful for anyone taking on this task and risking their lives in some circumstances to try and find the bodies of Jim and the other hostages," said Diane Foley, James Foley's mother. "We thank all those involved in this effort."

Two ISIS members, both former British citizens who were part of a cell that beheaded American hostages, are serving life prison sentences in the United States.