ABSTRACT
Most of Iran's maritime boundaries in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz have already been determined. The continental shelf boundaries with Saudi Arabia were delimited in 1968, with Qatar in 1970, with Bahrain in 1972 and with Oman in 1975. There are two areas where delimitation of the continental shelf has yet to be finalized. First, the maritime boundary with Kuwait at the head of the Persian Gulf is covered by a draft agreement between Iran and Kuwait but is not in force because of continuing territorial and boundary disputes between Kuwait and Iraq on the one hand and the uncertainty of the line of the extension of the Shatt al-Arab boundary into the Gulf on the other. Secondly, the Iranian continental shelf boundary with the United Arab Emirates is beset by difficulties. Iran delimited its boundary with Dubai in 1972 but official ratification of this agreement is prevented by uncertainties arising from the de facto joint sovereignty of Iran and Sharjah over Abu Musa. A draft agreement also exists between Iran and the emirate of Abu Dhabi but is also rendered inoperative by the Abu Musa dispute.
