Kuwait Kuwait declined an Iraqi request to forgive its US$65 billion debt. An economic rivalry between the two countries ensued after Kuwait increased its oil production by 40 percent. Tensions between the two countries increased further in July 1990, after Iraq complained to OPEC claiming that Kuwait was stealing its oil from a field near the border by slant drilling of the Rumaila field. In August 1990, Iraqi forces invaded and annexed Kuwait. After a series of failed diplomatic negotiations, the United States led a coalition to remove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait, in what became known as the Gulf War.
Armenians in Kuwait Armenians immigrated to North America. As of 2013, there are roughly 6,000 Armenians in Kuwait. As a result of the Armenian Genocide, many survivors were forced to first settle in the Levant including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. In 1958, the first wave of Arab nationalism appeared in Syria and Egypt. This did not sit well with the large Armenian communities in these countries. The establishment of the United Arab Republic triggered a mass exodus of Armenians to Lebanon (from Syria) and to Canada and the United States (from Egypt). Some Syrian-Armenians immigrated to Kuwait, when it was still a