Abd al-Karim Qasim
However, he further undermined his rapidly deteriorating position with a series of foreign policy blunders. In 1959 Qasim antagonized Iran with a series of territory disputes, most notably over the Khuzestan region of Iran, which was home to an Arabic-speaking minority, and the division of the Shatt al-Arab waterway between south eastern Iraq and western Iran. On 18 December 1959, Abd al-Karim Qasim declared: