Britain 'needs to look into islands occupied by Iran'

Dubai: The United Kingdom needs to look into the Iran-occupied UAE islands issue more seriously to formulate a policy on the issue, said a member of the British House of Commons on sunday.

John Grogan, member of the British parliament, was in Dubai to hold discussions with members of the Federal National Council (FNC) and its speaker Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair on his efforts to push the Commons to take up the issue of the three UAE islands, Abu Mousa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, that have been occupied by Iran since 1971.

Grogan said the issue had been raised in the British parliament in the '60s and '70s but "not enough attention had been given to it".

"There has been injustice ... It is ridiculous that we haven't discussed this in parliament in 40 years," he said.

Asked why Grogan has taken interest in the issue of the islands he said he was part of a UAE-UK friendship group, and he had studied the history of the islands in detail.

"Since the UAE was a protectorate [of the UK], Britain regarded the islands very much connected to the emirates," he said, adding that taking up the case was "the natural thing to do".

He and Al Ghurair asserted that the islands conflict should be referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Grogan said that he was met with "shock" upon telling his colleagues in the parliament about the islands situation.

He, however, welcomed the comments on the islands by British Minister of State at the Foreign Office Ivan Lewis, who said that the UK supported the peaceful settlement of the conflict during a British parliamentary debate.

Grogan and Al Ghurair said that the islands issue was a concern for both the Labour and Conservative party. Asked if a reformist win in the Iran elections would have helped in UAE-Iran dialogue on the islands, Al Ghurair said the UAE's position would not change.

"We have to convince the Iranian government [to enter in to a dialogue about the islands]. People come and go but the issue stays," he said.

"Hopefully the Iranians will discuss [this issue] directly with us and we will accept the outcome [of the ICJ proceedings] whatever they are," he said.