May 15, 2007, 9:01 PM

No acute, insoluble dispute between Iran and UAE: Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, May 15 (MNA) — “There is no acute and insoluble dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates,” Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said at Mehrabad Airport on Tuesday upon returning from his visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

“I used to think that there was no such problem, and during my visit I saw that (I was right),” the Iranian president said.

 

The UAE claims ownership over the Iranian islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf. Iran has announced that the misunderstanding will be removed through mutual talks.

 

However, Iran’s ambassador to the UAE, Hamid-Reza Asefi, said in an interview on Tuesday that there was no mention of differences between the presidents of Iran and the UAE.

 

While the president was on a tour of the Emirates, some foreign media outlets run stories about an agreement between Ahmadinejad and his UAE counterpart to settle differences over the islands of Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunbs, in order to downplay the importance of the visit.

 

Ahmadinejad said that during the meeting the two countries discussed the means to establish a durable peace and security in Iraq.

 

“The two states believe that the region’s security should be established by the governments and the nations of the region,” he noted.

 

“Today, the commercial relations of Iran and the United Arab Emirates is the highest among the countries in the region, but the two sides admit that there are many capacities than can be utilised,” he observed.

 

PA/MS

END

MNA

News ID 23396

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