Iran rejects baseless PGCC claims over islands

Spokesperson for Irans Foreign Ministry Esmail Baqaei expressed regret over the insistence of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council on repeating the unfounded and erroneous claim of the United Arab Emirates with respect to the Iranian islands of Abu Musa Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. Baqaei condemned the assertions contained in the final communiqué of the Council’s forty-sixth summit concerning these Iranian islands.

Spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baqaei, expressed regret over the insistence of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council on repeating the unfounded and erroneous claim of the United Arab Emirates with respect to the Iranian islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb. Baqaei condemned the assertions contained in the final communiqué of the Council’s forty-sixth summit concerning these Iranian islands.

 He emphasized that the Iranian islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb constitute inalienable parts of the territorial domain of Iran, and that any territorial claim thereto is fundamentally baseless and devoid of legal validity, and is manifestly incompatible with the principle of respect for the territorial integrity of States and with the precepts of good-neighborliness.

 

Baqaei recalled Iran’s effective, continuous, and uncontested sovereignty over these three islands throughout centuries. He stated that the repetition of a baseless claim concerning a portion of a country’s territory does not alter geographical and historical realities, nor does it create any right for the claimant under international law.

 

The Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs underscored the Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy of good-neighborliness and cooperation with neighboring States for the strengthening of relations and safeguarding of regional security and stability. He called upon the United Arab Emirates and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council to refrain from adopting provocative positions incompatible with good-neighborliness in relation to Iran.

 

Baqaei, emphasizing the pursuit of the rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Arash oil field, deemed unilateral claims regarding this field devoid of validity. He stated that the issuance of repetitive statements and the advancement of unilateral claims create no right for the State of Kuwait from a legal standpoint, and that the attainment of a fair and sustainable agreement concerning this field requires bilateral dialogue, joint efforts, and the establishment of a positive and constructive environment for securing mutual interests.