UAE | Government
UAE condemns Iranian move to set up offices on Abu Musa Island
The UAE has protested to Iran about the setting up of two facilities on one of three disputed Gulf islands and demanded they be dismantled.
- By Dr. Abdul-Hadi Al-Timimi, Abu Dhabi Editor
- Published: 17:07 August 14, 2008
Dubai The UAE formally protested yesterday against Iran's "flagrant violations of the Memorandum of Understanding" concerning the occupied islands in the Gulf, a UAE Foreign Ministry source said.
The source described recent Iranian actions on Abu Musa as "illegal". He said the ministry undersecretary summoned the Iranian ambassador and "handed him a letter of protest".
The UAE source was reacting to Iranian TV news that Tehran had set up "two offices" on the island, which have been under Iranian occupation since 1971. The report quoted an official, Ali Taheri Motlaq, as saying his country has set up two offices, "a marine rescue centre and a registration office for ships and sailors".
The UAE source said the memorandum of 1971 "had not transferred the sovereignty of Abu Musa island or any of its parts" to Iran, urging Tehran to adhere to that memorandum on Abu Musa island and "to annul any actions it had taken on the island which contravene" that memorandum.
The source invited Iran to "resort to international arbitration and courts to settle the issue" of the three occupied islands. The islands, particularly Abu Musa, occupy a strategic location at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz through which about 40 per cent of the world's oil exports pass.
- With inputs from WAM
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