Dispute between Iran-UAE over islands in the gulf

Two Iranian lawmakers urged the Foreign Ministry to take action against the UAE to end what they call the “occupation of two Iranian islands”, adding that they want to take the issue to international courts.

Ariana and Zarkooh are two islands in the Arabic gulf and part of the United Arab Emirates’ land. However, Iran says that the islands belong to it and are occupied by the UAE.

“The UAE has kept repeating its claim over these two islands which have always been inseparable parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian MP Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said.

“All historical and international documents prove that these two islands belong to Iran,” he added, according to a report by ICANA.

“Unfortunately, Iran had no control over these islands in recent decades, but all historic documents prove they were part of Iran in the past,” he told ICANA on Monday.

However, the UAE claims that three of its islands are also occupied by Iran.

The three Emirati islands occupied by Iran (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa). This issue dates back to 1971. Ever since the islands were occupied by Iran, the UAE together with a number of Arab countries has continuously demanded that Iran end its occupation.

In 1992, the issue of the occupied islands became a standing item on the agenda of the Supreme Council and the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) demanding Iran either to end the occupation and engage in direct negotiations with the UAE or to refer the issue to the International Court of Justice. However, Iran remains intransigent in its position.

The lawmaker Mojtaba Zolnour said Iran’s restraint and patience over “unfounded UAE claims” on the three islands of has emboldened Iran’s Arab neighbor to “raise its voice”.

“Definitely, Iran should stand up to the UAE aggression against Iranian islands,” he said.

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