Better Iran-Iraq relations, but oil still divisive

Dubai: Tensions between Iran and Iraq have more to do with recent developments than archaic rivalries. Iraq was ruled by the secular Sunni dictator Saddam Hussain during the time of the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, leading the two countries to clash ideologically and in their quest for regional domination.

The gruelling war from 1980 to 1988 devastated both countries as millions of people were killed on both sides and put both Iraq and Iran in severe debt. The US supported both sides during the war in an effort to make sure neither side emerged dominant. Despite the war, Iraq and Iran demonstrated remarkable capacities for bilateral cooperation in economic issues, reparations, border issues and exchange of POWs.

Relations between the two countries have improved dramatically since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam, but their border remains in dispute even after the 1975 Algiers agreement delineating the border.

The Al Fakkah field is considered a shared oil field between Iran and Iraq, but the Iraqis consider oil well No 4 to be theirs.