UAE presses claim on Iranian islands

The United Arab Emirates has again laid claim to three strategic islands in the Persian Gulf, only a day after Iran warned against any such provocation.

The rift between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) further widened on Sunday when UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan again called on Iranian officials to end the "occupation" of the three islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.

"The UAE's position is one of hope that the Iranian side will end this dispute peacefully and calmly," said Sheikh Abdullah following his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Unfazed by the tidal wave of condemnation he recently provoked in Tehran, Sheikh Abdullah went on to warn the Iranian government that its ownership of the three islands will come at the expense of its relations with the Arab world.

"We hope the Iranian side will look at this dispute and the occupation not only as an obstacle to improving relations between our two countries but also as an obstacle to Iran's relations with Arab states. For the sake of everybody, we hope this issue will be resolved peacefully and as soon as possible," he added.

The Emirati Foreign Minister touched on a raw nerve last week when he likened Iran's ownership of the three Persian Gulf islands to Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said on Saturday that Sheikh Abdullah had seriously crossed the line when he made the remarks.

The three Persian Gulf islands were historically owned by Iran but the habit of colonialism by Britain led to the islands temporarily falling under British control in the 1800s.

The islands were then returned to Iran on November 30th 1971 through legal procedures before the state of the United Arab Emirates was created and the Al-Nahyan clan assumed leadership.

According to international conventions, no state can defy any agreements which had come into being before its creation unless such agreements had been officially declared null and void by the newly-created state.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124473§ionid=351020206.