Claim to Iranian Islands Against Spirit of Good Neighbourliness

By: Kayhan Int’l

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf made it clear in a recent statement that the UAE’s claim on three of Iran’s Persian Gulf islands is not just against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic but also against the spirit of good neighbourliness. 

It is indeed unfortunate of some of our neighbours to ignore the emphasis of Islam on good neighbourliness, and instead act like mouthpieces of Zionism and Anglo-American imperialism to covet the islands of Bu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb.

According to the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), neighbours have rights and privileges that ought to be respected. If God Almighty in ayah 36 of Surah an-Nisa commands us to be good “to the near neighbour and the distant neighbour”, the Prophet says: “A person who sleeps contentedly while a neighbour sleeps hungry is not from me”.

Iran, whose system of government is based on the dynamic teachings of Islam, has since the victory of the Islamic Revolution called for regional solidarity and followed the policy of good neighbourliness even if some of its neighbours, at the instigation of outside powers, wronged it, such as Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Iraq, who bombed city centres and gassed to death civilians. 

The Islamic Republic never retaliated in like manner during the 8-year war that the US had imposed through the Baghdad dictator who bombed cities and merchant ships in addition to using internationally banned chemical weapons supplied by the West.

In addition, Iran provided asylum to hundreds of thousands of Iraqis (as well as millions of Afghans), and in the spirit of good neighbourliness has continued to help them and their elected government – during the American occupation, and during the takfiri bid to take over the country, for which the Iraqis are grateful.

This same neighbourly consideration made the Islamic Republic help Lebanon struggle free of Zionist occupation of its southern parts and then thwarted the Israeli bid to destroy the Lebanese people during the 33-day war.

It is good neighbourliness that makes Iran reiterate support for Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement and the efforts of the US, Israel and their agents in Beirut to disarm Hezbollah.

The Islamic Republic’s unflinching support to the Palestinian cause and mobilization of all efforts to liberate Islam’s former qibla, Bayt al-Moqaddas, is another vivid example of good neighbourliness by Tehran.

There are numerous instances of firm support of Iran to both near and far neighbours, including non-Muslims, whether in times of natural disasters or whether in standing up against tyranny, and these include the people of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Yemen, Egypt, and Kuwait.

In the last named country Iranian experts capped scores of flaming oil wells set ablaze by the retreating Ba’thist forces in the aftermath of their abortive occupation of 1990-91.

In view of these undeniable facts, it is against the spirit of Islam for the UAE to lay claim to three of Iran’s Persian Gulf islands, upon the orders of the US and the Zionists who have intruded into our region and hate to see Islamic solidarity.