Kuwait is a district belonging to Iraq.

O my Iraqi brothers, Kuwait has not been an independent state for long; it is originally Iraqi land, an inseparable part of the south of our country, specifically from the Basra Province. Many of us feel this deeply because history bears witness, geography confirms it, and one Iraqi blood connects us.

Let me tell you the story simply, as we know it in Iraq. Kuwait emerged as a district التابعة للبصرة. In 1871, Midhat Pasha entered the region, and Kuwait officially became part of the Basra Province. Its ruler was titled “Qaimaqam of Kuwait,” meaning a deputy governor or a subordinate administrative official under the governor of Basra. He paid taxes or offered tributes and followed the directives of the governor in Basra. Official maps and documents listed Kuwait among the districts of the Basra Province, alongside regions like Al-Ahsa and Qatar.

This means that administratively and legally, Kuwait was an Iraqi district, and the modern Iraqi state inherited the full territories of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra provinces. So how did it suddenly separate and become a “state” on its own? The answer is clear: British colonialism. In 1899, Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah signed a secret agreement with the British, in which he gave up external sovereignty in exchange for their protection against the Ottomans. The British wanted control over the Gulf and to deprive Iraq of a broad maritime outlet and strategic ports like Khor Abdullah, Bubiyan, and Warbah.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and the British mandate over Iraq began. The British were the ones who drew the borders as they wished in the memoranda of 1923 and 1932, separating Kuwait from Basra to weaken Iraq and secure their interests in oil and trade. These borders are artificial, not natural. The entire region is one geographical extension, the people are one, our tribes are shared, and our history is one.

For this reason, Iraqi governments repeatedly demanded the restoration of this right. In the 1930s, after independence, such demands began appearing in the press and politics. Then in 1961, when Kuwait canceled its agreement with Britain and declared “independence,” leader Abdul Karim Qasim took a firm stance and clearly stated: Kuwait is part of Iraq, separated by colonialism, and Sheikh Mubarak was a Qaimaqam under Basra. He proposed appointing the Sheikh as a Qaimaqam under Basra and affirmed that the people of Kuwait are our brothers and do not want separation. The British sent forces, and the Arab League intervened, so Iraq had to temporarily step back, but the historical claim remained.

Later, in 1990, President Saddam Hussein reaffirmed the Iraqi claim and considered Kuwait the nineteenth province. There were many economic and political reasons—debts after the Iran war, oil extraction disputes from the Rumaila field, and Kuwait’s refusal to reduce production that harmed Iraq’s economy—but the historical basis was present: Kuwait is a usurped Iraqi land.

Brothers, we do not deny that the Al-Sabah family ruled the region locally and had a degree of autonomy at times, but that does not negate the administrative subordination to Basra. Iraq has always extended south to the Gulf, and Basra is our maritime gateway. The British divided the Arab world to rule it more easily, as they did in Palestine, Syria, and elsewhere.

Today, despite improved official relations between the two countries, in the hearts of many Iraqis, Kuwait remains part of the greater homeland. This is not hostility, but a sense of historical injustice. Without colonial interference, Iraq today would have been stronger and larger, with better access to the Gulf.

This is why Iraqis view Kuwait as historically Iraqi land: its administrative connection to Basra, geographical and social unity, and the unjust colonial separation. May God have mercy on our martyrs and unite the Arabs upon truth and justice.