By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) – Iranian forces crossed into Iraq and seized an oil well just over the two countries’ disputed border, Iraq’s government said Friday, prompting a protest from Baghdad and providing a dramatic display of the sometimes tenuous relations between the wary allies.
The incident could trouble Iraq’s drive to attract the international investment needed to develop its beleaguered oil sector, analysts said, and it raised questions about the two countries’ ties, which had improved greatly after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
According to Iraq’s deputy foreign minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, Iranian troops crossed into Iraqi territory on Thursday and seized oil well No. 4 in the al-Fakkah oil field, located in Maysan province about 200 miles (about 320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq’s largest.
“This is not the first time that the Iranians have tried to prevent Iraqis from investing in oil fields in border areas,” Mahmoud told the AP. He said he did not know if the Iranians were still in control of the well.
Iraq’s national security council held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the issue, and government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh later said the seizure showed anew the need for clearly defined borders between Iraq and Iran. He said the two countries have begun diplomatic talks.
However, al-Dabbagh appeared careful to avoid describing the incident as a military incursion, saying the oil well takeover was carried out by a group of armed Iranians.
“Iraq considers this penetration as a border breach and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” he said in a statement. “We call upon the Iranian government to solve all the border disputes with Iraq through diplomatic means and to avoid the use of military force.”
Relations between the two countries have improved dramatically since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam, who in the ’80s attacked Iran and started an almost decade-long war. Since Saddam’s ouster, however, both countries have had Shiite-led governments, a rarity in the mostly Sunni Middle East.
But their border remains in dispute.
The al-Fakkah field is considered a shared field between Iran and Iraq, meaning both nations are able to pump oil from it, but the Iraqis consider oil well No. 4 theirs.
Iranian soldiers carrying rifles seized the well Thursday night in a 25-car convoy and ordered the Iraqi workers to leave the area, according to a worker at the site who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. The soldiers then mounted an Iranian flag inside the well, he said.
There were no reports of violence during the incident, and Iranian forces left the well on Friday, leaving the flag behind, the worker said. His account could not be immediately confirmed.
Analysts said it was too early to say whether the incident would mushroom into greater tension but said it could raise concerns with oil companies looking to invest in Iraq. Oil prices rose slightly after news of the incident.
“It looks like some kind of warning shot, and it could definitely escalate into a big worry for oil companies,” said Samuel Ciszuk of the London-based IHS Global Insight.
In Washington, a U.S. official said that although Iranians have crossed the border before, they had not previously ventured this far.
Iraqi security forces were in the area, but there are no reports of fighting, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. The Iranians are believed to have left the area, he said.
An official at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to media said reports of Iran seizing the well were “mere rumors.”
A message left for Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman seeking comment was not returned. Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted officials at the National Iranian Oil Company as denying the incursion.
Such incidents have happened before. Last year, the Iraqi Oil Ministry accused Iran of stealing oil from the al-Fakkah field and of illegally seizing and capping off wells in a second field Iraq says lies entirely within its territory.
Iraq has an estimated 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves — the world’s third largest.
But years of neglect, war and insurgency have left the oil fields severely underperforming. Iraq has been trying to attract international investment, including a round of international bidding last week.
The incursion comes as Iraq is preparing for national elections on March 7, and in a research note, analysts at the Washington-based Eurasia Group said the incident could affect Iraq’s domestic politics.
Although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, has tried to present himself as a nationalist candidate with wide support, “…there remains the lingering perception that he is close to Tehran. If Iran appears to be acting against the interests of Iraq, some of al-Maliki’s more nationalist and Sunni supporters, who harbor hostility toward Iran, could desert him,” the note read.
The al-Fakkah field, which has about 1.55 billion barrels of oil in reserves, was offered along with another two adjacent fields as a single group in Iraq’s first postwar oil and gas bidding round in June. But the group received only one bid by a consortium grouping China’s CNOOC Ltd. and Sinochem International Co. Ltd, which was rejected by the Oil Ministry. (click HERE for the original article)
Iraqi official: Iranians seized Iraqi oil well
By SAMEER N. YACOUB – 8 hours ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s deputy foreign minister says Iranian troops have seized an oil well in southern Iraq along their disputed border.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Haj Aziz said Friday that Iranian troops seized oil well No. 4 Thursday night.
He said he did not know whether Iranians were still in control of the oil well. He said the Foreign Ministry and the Oil Ministry are coordinating over what steps to take and were considering summoning the Iranian ambassador to discuss the issue on Saturday.
Such incidents have happened before along the Iran-Iraq border, which was never clearly delineated after the brutal war between the two countries in the 1980s. (click HERE fore the original AP article)
Oh gawd, just what we need, more tensions in the ME!
This move by Iran is purely a Political one. Iran is simply stirring the pot so to speak. They have more oil than Iraq, according to reports I’ve read, so why make this move now. The current dictator of Iran is pushing too many buttons. I see a parallel with what N. Korea, and Iran do every once in a while. They are both under santions by the U.N., their two respective countries peoples are oppressed and murdered. Irans religious leader could take a stand against this type of conduct but he is part of the problem. I haven’t read their “Koran” but I don’t believe that it tells their believers to treat the followers of the “Koran” to oppress, rape or murder. This is strictly a DICTATORSHIP, not unlike what Hitler was like. I personally think that the Dictatorship in Irans days are numbered and the people of Iran will eventually know what true Freedom is like.
I spoke with two Iranian women while waiting on a flight in at the Dubai airport. One said she liked their leader and the other didn’t, so that tells me atleast half or more would like a change, and it will happen sooner than later:)!
Here’s an update on this issue: Thanks KRASH!
BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraqi troops escorted workers back to a remote oil well Sunday after Iranian forces withdrew as a standoff on the two countries’ disputed border appeared to wane.
Two Iraqi government officials and an employee at the site said about 11 oil workers returned to well No. 4 at the al-Fakkah oil field, seized by Iranian forces on Thursday. Al-Fakkah is one of the largest oil fields in Iraq, and is located in the southern province of Maysan.
Iraqi soldiers planted the Iraqi flag on the well where Iran’s flag had flown, said a senior Oil Ministry official in Baghdad.
The three officials and the oil worker spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
The Iranians were still nearby, however: a half-dozen soldiers retreated to a hilltop overlooking the oil well, said the two government officials. Another 50 were stationed at a border checkpoint about 150 meters away.
Both Iran and Iraq claim parts of al-Fakkah as theirs. Located about 200 miles (about 320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, the oil field has an estimated 1.5 billion barrels in reserves.
The standoff displayed the occasionally tense relations between the two oil-rich nations, which fought an eight-year war in the 1980s but now share common ground in Shiite-led governments. It spurred an emergency meeting of Iraq’s national security council and high-level diplomatic talks between Baghdad and Tehran.
U.S. officials, worried about Iran’s growing influence in the region, praised what they described as Baghdad’s quick but measured response to the dispute.