Iran Warns GCC Against “Unconstructive” Claims on Islands and Arash Gas Field

By Al Ahed Staff, Agencies

A senior representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei has cautioned the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] against making “unconstructive” assertions over the three Iranian islands and the Arash gas field, calling them red lines that must not be crossed.

Ali Shamkhani, the Leader’s envoy to the Defense Council, issued the warning on Thursday through a post on X, responding to the final communiqué of the 46th GCC Summit held in Bahrain a day earlier.

In its communiqué, the GCC reiterated its long-standing position on the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa islands, declaring full support for the UAE’s claim to sovereignty and asserting that the islands constitute an integral part of its territory. The statement also claimed that the entirety of the Arash gas field lies within Kuwait’s maritime boundaries and that all its resources fall solely within the Kuwaiti-Saudi Divided Submerged Zone.

Shamkhani rejected these claims outright, describing the islands and the gas field as core national red lines. “The role of neighbors is to create security, not to play with the red lines of the Iranian nation,” he wrote. He noted that these positions were once again raised amid what he described as the hostile actions of the United States and the “Israeli” entity.

He emphasized that Iran exercised notable restraint during the 12 days of the “Israeli”-American war in mid-June, even as some regional states supported the aggression, warning that “Iran’s power in the Gulf should not be misinterpreted.”

Iran maintains that the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs have historically belonged to it—a position backed by extensive historical, legal and geographical documentation. Although the islands were placed under British control in 1921, Iran reasserted sovereignty on November 30, 1971, shortly before the UAE was formally established.

The dispute over the Arash gas field—known in Kuwait as Al-Durra—dates back to the 1960s, when Iran and Kuwait received overlapping offshore concessions after the field’s discovery. The field is estimated to contain around 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with a production potential of one billion cubic feet per day. Approximately 40 percent of the reserves lie within Iranian territorial waters.