UAE Retreats from Unfounded Claims on Iranian Islands

The United Arab Emirates softened their tone about ownership of three Persian Gulf islands after senior Iranian military officials warned that they would not stand Abu Dhabi’s baseless claims to Iran’s territories.

The UAE, which says it does not accept international treaties and agreements about the ownership of the Island, recently called its ambassador from Tehran after Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Abu Musa Island. But after Iranian military commanders said their troops would be ready for action if diplomacy failed, the UAE officials stepped back from their aggressive stances tone.

”We will remain neighbors forever despite our differences,” UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash told Dubai TV on Saturday.

”We are following a long-patience policy,” he said, stressing that escalating the situation would not be in his country’s interest.

His remarks came after Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan called on the UAE to end its baseless claims to Iranian territories, and warned that if diplomacy fails, the military will be ready for action over Iran’s three Persian Gulf islands.

“If the plot is not resolved through diplomacy, military forces are ready to show the prowess of the establishment to the claimant,” Pourdastan told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the National Army Day.

General Pourdastan said Iranian forces are capable of confronting any offender against Iran’s sovereignty over the strategic Abu Musa island as well as the Greater and the Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf.

“Iran has had sovereignty over these islands since old times, and the Islamic Republic will defend this right with full force,” he reiterated.

“We do not allow any country to carry out an invasion,” Pourdastan said. “If these disturbances are not solved through diplomacy, the military forces are ready to show the power of Iran to the offender. Iran will strongly defend its right.”

The island dominates the approach to the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway in the Persian Gulf through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) ships patrol the narrow waterway.

On April 13, the foreign ministers of the six-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) held an emergency meeting in Doha and issued a statement against the Iranian President’s visit to the Iranian island.

In reply, Iran said that the visit was an internal issue only related to Iran’s state sovereignty.

International documents clearly show that the three islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa which were historically owned by Iran, temporarily fell to British control in 1903. The islands were returned to Iran based on an agreement in 1971 before the UAE was born.

Iran has repeatedly declared that its ownership of the three islands is unquestionable.

Under international law, no state can defy any agreement, which came into being before its establishment.

Yet, the UAE continues to make territorial claims against the Islamic Republic despite historical evidence and international regulations.