UAE president to visit Iran amid islands row

Emirati President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan is scheduled to visit Iran amid a fresh row over the three Persian Gulf islands.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed will officially visit Iran "in the near future", more than two years after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the UAE, Mehr news agency reported.

According to Mehr, the UAE president's visit has been delayed due to the death of his younger brother, Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, in a glider crash in Morocco last week.

Iran has offered condolences to the royal family and the government of the UAE for the tragic incident.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed's visit comes as the Arab countries have repeated claims over the three Persian Gulf islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, which historical, legal and geographical documents verify as part of Iran's territory.

A statement at the end of last month Arab League summit claimed the three islands belonged to the UAE and said Iran was “violating the UAE sovereignty.”

Iran dismissed the statement as "baseless claims."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122426§ionid=351020101.