1973 Samita border skirmish
Following the deterring effect of Operation Vantage and a [November 1963 Iraqi Armed Forces|Iraqi coup d'état|coup in Iraq], Kuwait and Iraq signed a recognition draft in 1963, however the agreement, never ratified, remained non-binding and was eventually dismissed by the revolutionary council. Both countries had ongoing border disputes throughout most of the 1960s, although often restrained within the climate of Arab solidarity.
Since 1967 and during 1973, despite the unstable history between the Kuwaiti and the leadership of Iraq back then, the Kuwaiti military acted in alliance with the Iraqi military during the Six-Day War and participated with a token force during the 1973 October War of the same year.
Background
In 1968 the Ba'ath party came to power in Iraq which led to raise of tensions with the Shah of Iran, as Iraq began to be viewed by the West and Iran as a Soviet-aligned rival power in the region, the situation further exacerbated following the British military withdrawal from the gulf, largely due to economic reasons, the next year and the subsequent Anglo-American backing of the Shah to be the "policeman" of the gulf. In early 1969 the Iraqi-Iranian relations had deteriorated to the point that war between the two countries seemed imminent. To protect Umm Qasr from a potential Iranian attack, Iraq pressured Kuwait into accepting a small Iraqi force to be stationed inside its territory, which Iraq considered to be disputed. However the impending conflict between Iraq and Iran never reached its breaking point. Nevertheless, Iraq maintained its forces in Kuwaiti territory on the grounds that Umm Qasr was still in need of defence until the dispute is resolved with Iran.Throughout this period older border disputes between Iraq and Kuwait re-emerged, as Iraq demanded the islands of Warbah and Bubiyan to be ceded to it while rejecting Kuwaiti negotiations to settle the dispute otherwise. Iraq viewed the ceding of the islands to it as a concession, to remedy its geographically vulnerable position, in exchange of relinquishing its historical claim on the whole of Kuwait.
Kuwait rejection of Iraqi demands can also be linked to its fear of antagonising the Shah of Iran who desired to be the "policeman" of the gulf, as ceding the islands would've strengthened Iraq's position over the gulf.
In December 1971 Iraq amassed its troops on its border with Kuwait. Kuwait unsuccessfully tried to neutralise Iraqi hostility through financial support, however Iraq impatient continued to grow. In December 1972 Iraq reinforced a garrison inside of Kuwaiti territory and in February of the next year Kuwait reinforced its al-Samita outpost.