Bubiyan Island belongs to Kuwait and is located in the northwestern part of the Persian Gulf. During the imposed war, it was under the control of the Iraqi Army.

Bubiyan is Kuwait' s largest island and, after Qeshm Island, the second-largest island in the Persian Gulf. It is located in the northwestern Persian Gulf and northeast of Kuwait. The island is uninhabited, and 60 percent of it is a protected area.

Bubiyan has an area of 863 square kilometers, equivalent to 5 percent of Kuwait' s total area. It is predominantly flat and low-lying, and its shores are covered by salt marshes. Several dry riverbeds also exist in the central part of the island.

Bubiyan overlooks Iraq' s Umm Qasr naval base, and its shortest distance from Iraqi territory is about 20 kilometers; its distance from Abadan, Iran, is approximately the same.⁠[1] At its southernmost point (northwest of Ras al-Barsha), Bubiyan is connected to mainland Kuwait by a concrete bridge 2,500 meters long and 19 meters wide, built across the Subiyah Creek. Ships can pass underneath the bridge, and Kuwait uses it to move military forces into the island.⁠[2] The bridge has only military applications.⁠[3]

Because of Iraq' s short coastline and the shallow waters of its ports, the country' s rulers had always regarded gaining a wider coastline and better access to the open waters of the Persian Gulf as strategic objectives. Occupying Iran' s Khuzestan Province, gaining exclusive control over the Arvand Rud, and occupying Kuwait— or at least dominating the two islands of Warbah and Bubiyan— had long been among Iraq' s expansionist policies.⁠[4]

The Iraqi government had always claimed ownership of Bubiyan Island, a claim with historical roots. The request to transfer the islands of Bubiyan, Failaka, and Warbah to Iraq was first raised upon Iraq' s independence in 1933 and again after Kuwait' s independence in 1961, but Iraq failed in both cases. During the Iran-Iraq border dispute before the signing of the 1975 Algiers Agreement, the Ba' athist government also sought to use these islands against Iran. During this period, in order to strengthen its defensive positions at Umm Qasr port, Iraq sought the transfer or lease of Bubiyan, Failaka, and Warbah, but Kuwait refused.⁠[5]

With the beginning of the imposed war, the Ba' athist government found an opportunity to revive its longstanding claims.⁠[6] Bubiyan' s location along the same axis as Kharg Island had increased its importance for Iraq. Because the Arvand Rud was blocked and the oil facilities at the al-Bakr and al-Umayyah terminals had been destroyed, and later because Iran captured the port of Faw, Iraq lost a major part of its connection with the Persian Gulf and its operational capability at sea. It therefore made repeated attempts to seize or exploit Bubiyan Island.⁠[7]

In 1980 (1358 and 1359 SH), the Iraqi government formally asked Kuwait to lease the islands of Bubiyan, Failaka, and Warbah to Iraq for 99 years. Iraq wanted to establish a naval base on Bubiyan Island, but this time as well, the Kuwaiti government rejected the request.⁠[8]

Iraq repeatedly requested permission to exploit the Kuwaiti islands, but because it needed extensive financial assistance from Kuwait during the imposed war, it was unable to exert political pressure on Kuwait. Consequently, from 1980 to 1984, the Ba' athist government did not formally raise the issue of leasing Bubiyan, Failaka, and Warbah. In contrast, in early September 1982 (1361 SH), the Kuwaiti government began preliminary studies for developing Bubiyan Island, and in the same year construction began on a connecting bridge between Bubiyan and the Kuwaiti mainland; the project was completed within five months.

The main purpose of Kuwait' s construction of the bridge was to respond to Iraq' s claims, particularly because Iraq argued that the island had no population, infrastructure, or means of communication. Through this action, Kuwait sought to remove this pretext and reinforce its practical and legal ownership of Bubiyan Island.⁠[9]

In 1984 (1363 SH), Iran succeeded in capturing the oil-rich Majnoon Islands in the Hoveyzeh marshes during Operation Kheibar. The islands contained approximately 50 undeveloped oil wells.

This major defeat prompted Iraq to increase its political pressure on Kuwait once again. Taking advantage of the new wartime circumstances, Baghdad pressured Kuwait to agree to lease the three islands. The Iraqi government claimed that it needed the islands to defend its territory and also to defend Kuwait against Iran, and warned that if Kuwait rejected the request, Baghdad would occupy them by force.

As Iraq' s political pressure and threats increased, Kuwait gave in to some of Baghdad' s demands for the first time. During the visit of Sheikh Saad Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kuwait, to Baghdad in November 1984 (1363), reports emerged of an implicit agreement between the two countries concerning the three islands of Bubiyan, Failaka, and Warbah, and control of the islands temporarily passed to Iraq, although the details of the agreement were never announced.⁠[10]

Following this action by the Kuwaiti government, Iran warned Kuwait that if Iraq occupied the islands, Kuwait should not expect to retain any claim to them. In response to these circumstances and in order to reduce regional tensions, Kuwait declared Bubiyan Island outside the area of military operations. It also announced that it had deployed military forces, particularly air-defense systems, on Bubiyan to demonstrate that the island remained under Kuwaiti control and protection.⁠[11]

On 18 November 1984 (27 Aban 1363), Rashid al-Rashid, Kuwait' s Deputy Foreign Minister, emphasized during a meeting with the Iranian chargé d' affaires in Kuwait that the three islands of Bubiyan, Warbah, and Failaka remained under Kuwaiti ownership and sovereignty and had not been transferred to Iraq.⁠[12]

In February 1986 (Bahman 1364), Iranian forces captured the Faw Peninsula⁠[13], and Iraqi pressure on Kuwait to transfer the islands of Warbah and Bubiyan increased, because these islands, located south of the Faw Peninsula, could play a key role in an Iraqi counterattack against Iranian forces. Ultimately, Kuwait and Iraq reached an agreement, and during the final two years of the imposed war these islands came under Iraqi control, causing considerable damage to Iran. The Iranian government repeatedly asked Kuwait to prevent Iraq from using these islands against Iran, but Kuwait rejected Iran' s claim and, in an effort to conceal its cooperation with the Ba' athist government, simultaneously initiated several development projects on the islands.⁠[14]

Although no direct attack was made on the Kuwaiti islands while the Faw Peninsula was under Iranian control, Iraqi forces repeatedly conducted operations against Iranian positions from Bubiyan Island. Ultimately, in 1988 (1367), Iraq used the island to drive Iranian forces out of the Faw Peninsula.⁠[15]

After the imposed war, Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait in 1990 (1369), and Iraqi forces gained control over Khor Abdullah and the surrounding shores and islands, including Bubiyan.⁠[16]

After Kuwait was liberated from Iraqi occupation in 1991 (1370 SH), Bubiyan Island officially became a Kuwaiti military base. In 1994 (1373 SH), Iraq accepted the border established by the United Nations with Kuwait and withdrew its claim to Bubiyan Island.

In 2010 (1389 SH), the Iraqi government sought to construct the large Al-Faw Port near Khor Abdullah. In response, Kuwait began construction of Mubarak Port on Bubiyan Island in 2011 (1390 SH)⁠[17]. Today, several development projects are underway on Bubiyan Island, including the construction of a port, an airport, and a residential township.