Kuwait summons Iraqi envoy for second time over armed faction attacks

NEWSROOM — Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Iraqi Embassy’s chargé d’affaires Monday and delivered a second protest note over continued attacks by Iraqi armed factions targeting Kuwaiti territory.

The ministry described the attacks as “an act of aggression against the State of Kuwait, an assault on its sovereignty, and a violation of international law,” and called on Baghdad to take “all necessary measures against the perpetrators to deter them from these practices.” It affirmed Kuwait’s “full and inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and to take all necessary and legitimate measures to confront these attacks.”

Kuwait summoned Iraq’s chargé d’affaires for the first time earlier this month. On March 9, Iraq’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Uloom told Kuwait’s ambassador that Baghdad rejects the use of Iraqi territory as a launch point for attacks against neighboring countries and is taking measures to pursue those responsible.

The repeated summons reflect mounting frustration among Gulf states over Baghdad’s inability to stop cross-border attacks by Iran-aligned factions. Six Arab states — Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan — jointly called on Iraq earlier this month to act, describing the strikes as “a flagrant violation” of their sovereignty. Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has reiterated its rejection of such attacks and said it is coordinating with neighboring countries, while acknowledging the difficulty of stopping factions that remain formally incorporated into its own security apparatus.