Shatt al-Arab

　　Shatt al-Arab is a river in southeastern Iraq, formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at the town of Al-Qurnah. It flows southeast, passing through the Iraqi port of Basra and the Iranian port of Abadan, before emptying into the Persian Gulf, covering a total distance of about 193 kilometers. The eastern bank of the river’s lower course forms the border between Iraq and Iran; from the eastern (Iranian) bank, the Karun River joins the Shatt al-Arab, bringing large amounts of silt that require frequent dredging to allow passage for shallow-draft oceangoing ships.

　　The width of the Shatt al-Arab expands from around 37 meters at Basra to 0.8 kilometers at its mouth. The settled riverbanks are lined with small groves of date palms, naturally irrigated by the tides. The current configuration of the river is relatively recent, but its form is unstable. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers once flowed into the Persian Gulf through a more westerly channel, and the present lower course of the Shatt al-Arab may have once been part of the Karun River. In the 1980s, the Shatt al-Arab was a battleground between Iraq and Iran; in the latter half of 1980, Iraq invaded Iran after claiming sovereignty over both banks of the river.