Warbah Island is an island belonging to Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

, located in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

, near the mouth of the Euphrates River. It is located roughly 100 metres (109.4 yd) east of the Kuwaiti mainland, 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) north of Bubiyan Island

Bubiyan Island

Bubiyan Island is the largest island in the Kuwaiti coastal island chain situated in the north-western corner of the Persian Gulf, with an area of ....

 and 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) south of the Iraqi

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 mainland. It is roughly 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) wide with a total area of 37 square kilometres (14.3 sq mi). The island is essentially a large mud flat.

The island has no permanent inhabitants although the government maintains a coastguard post, named M-1 on the island which is partially funded by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

.

In November 1994, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 formally accepted the UN-demarcated border with Kuwait which had been spelled out in Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

 Resolutions 687

United Nations Security Council Resolution 687

United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, adopted on April 3, 1991, after reaffirming resolutions 660, 661, 662, 664, 665, 666, 667, 669, 670, 674, 677, 678 and 686 , the Council set the terms, in a comprehensive resolution, with which Iraq was to comply after losing the Gulf War.The...

 (1991), 773

United Nations Security Council Resolution 773

United Nations Security Council Resolution 773, adopted on August 26, 1992, after recalling resolutions 687 and 689 , the Council considered the work of the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission established on May 2, 1991, and reiterated its position that it would enforce any violation of...

 (1993), and 833

United Nations Security Council Resolution 833

United Nations Security Council Resolution 833, adopted unanimously on May 27, 1993, after recalling resolutions 687 , 689 , 773 and 806 in addition to a report by the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Council noted the continuing work of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Boundary...

 (1993) which formally ended an earlier claim to Warbah Island.

Near the island in early December 2002, in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq

2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...

, an Iraqi ship opened fire on two Kuwaiti coastguard patrol boats, causing them to collide. A US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

serviceman and two Kuwaiti coastguards were injured in the attack, no mention was made of the reason for the US serviceman's presence.