The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador to Tehran following the issuance of a joint statement by Russia and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council that supported the United Arab Emirates’ claims to three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. Alireza Enayati, assistant to the foreign minister and Director General of the Persian Gulf Department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, called in the Russian ambassador to hand over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s objections to the contents of a joint statement between Russia and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council that was issued after the sixth ministerial meeting of strategic dialogue between the two sides. Enayati told the Russian ambassador that the thee islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb belonged to Iran for eternity, and demanded that the Russian Federation rectify its stance on the matter. The Russian ambassador to the Islamic Republic stressed Moscow’s respect for Iran’s territorial integrity and said he would convey the matter to Moscow at the earliest.