Hossein Jaberi Ansari stated that Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb islands are indispensable parts of the Iranian territory and deemed the repetition of baseless claims by Persian Gulf littoral states a ‘non-constructive position.’
The remarks by the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman came in response to the 36th Persian Gulf Cooperation Council’s final communique which reiterated baseless claims on Iran’s three islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects any irresponsible comments against its territorial integrity and puts forward as its foreign policy the friendly relations based on non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, full respect of their territorial integrity and mutual respect toward its neighboring states,” highlighted Jaberi Ansari.
The Iranian diplomat added that the Islamic Republic is keen on expanding friendly ties based on the aforementioned principles and in line with countering common threats and settling regional issues including terrorism.
International documents clearly show that the three islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa which were historically owned by Iran, temporarily fell to British control in 1903. The islands were returned to Iran based on an agreement in 1971 before the UAE came to existence.
Iran has repeatedly declared that its ownership of the three islands is unquestionable.
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