News - Middle East: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani has once again rejected claims laid by Kuwait to a gas field located in disputed waters in the Persian Gulf, saying issuing “repetitive statements” will give no extra rights to the Arab country over the energy reserve.

Kan'ani made the remarks in a Wednesday statement while reacting to a communiqué issued at the end of a visit by Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Egypt in which claims were raised about the ownership of Arash gas field, which is known in Kuwait as Durra.

He said repeating unilateral and unfounded claims about the gas field by the Kuwaiti side are “a source of pity”, adding that those statements will create no extra rights for the Kuwaiti government from a legal standpoint.

“We recommend the authorities of this country to refrain from repeated use of fruitless political and media methods with regards to the legal and technical issue of the Arash joint field,” said the spokesman in his statement.

He also called on third party governments, a clear reference to Egypt in this case, to take steps that would boost regional cooperation and multilateral relations.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement in March 2022 saying they will jointly develop Arash gas field without Iran’s participation. 

Iran swiftly reacted to the statement by resuming exploration activities on the field, more than 20 years after they stopped to give way for demarcation talks on maritime borders.

Discovered in 1962, Arash has around 13 trillion cubic feet (nearly 370 billion cubic meters) of natural gas.

Some 23 Iranian hydrocarbon fields lie in border areas and are shared between Iran and adjacent countries, including Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.

Source: Press TV