Iran warns UAE over ‘baseless claims’ to Persian Gulf islands

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

Emirati officials have continuously referred to Iran’s presence on the islands as an “occupation”

During the end of the 77th annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York on 29 September, Iran warned the UAE that staking out the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb, is a violation of the Islamic Republic’s territorial integrity.

These remarks came in response to Reem al-Hashemi, the Emirati minister of State for International Cooperation’s claims that the UAE has a “legitimate right” to the islands.

Iranian delegates remarked that these “baseless claims” concerning the three islands in the Persian Gulf are an attack on Iran’s sovereignty, and a violation of the fundamental principles of international law.

This was not the first time Abu Dhabi claims its “legitimate right” to the three islands, while Tehran has continuously emphasized its ownership over them.

Last week, Hashemi declared her country’s call for Tehran to give up its claim to the three islands.

“We renew our demand [for an end to] Iran’s occupation of the three Emirati islands: The Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, over which history and international law prove the sovereignty of my country,” Hashemi said in New York on 24 September.

The UAE “will never stop claiming [its] legitimate right to these islands, either through direct negotiation or the International Court of Justice,” she went on to say, adding that despite “the UAE’s sincere calls to peacefully resolve this conflict over the past five decades, we stress here that Iran has not responded.”

The islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, all located in the Persian Gulf, have been the center of a longstanding dispute between Iran and the UAE.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of the UAE Khalifa Shaheen al-Marar and other Emirati officials have continuously referred to Iran’s presence on the islands as an “occupation.”