The UN Security Council and Iraq’s Disputed Internal Boundaries

The UN Security Council initially used the phrase ‘disputed internal boundaries’ in an operative part of Resolution 1770 (2007) and then reiterated it in preamble paragraphs of Resolutions 1883 (2009), 1936 (2010), 2001 (2011), 2061 (2012), 2110 (2013), 2169 (2014), 2233 (2015), 2299 (2016), 2367 (2017) and 2421 (2018). That was the first instance in the history the UNSC to use such phrase. This article tries to survey and analyze this unusual phrase in these resolutions and it`s legal repercussions in the light of Iraq’s constitution as well as the political situation there. It seems that the 15-member Council has repeatedly endorsed the obligation of Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government to resolve their outstanding disputes including internal boundaries based on the national constitution especially Article 140. According to the Security Council, there exists a critical link between maintaining peace and security and the peaceful settlement of disputes in Iraq.