Iran excoriates EU stance on trio islands in Persian Gulf
Kharrazi: EU’s support for UAE ‘brazen hostility’ toward Iran
Iran has strongly condemned a joint statement of the European Union and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) about three Persian Gulf Iranian islands, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying, “Era of European malign ‘divide & rule’ interference in our region is long over.”
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations denounced the joint statement, stating that Europe is embarking on a misguided and perilous path vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic.
In a post published on its official X account on Thursday, the mission stated that while European leaders acknowledged during high-level negotiations with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 79th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York that mutual concerns could be resolved through dialogue, they have surrendered to baseless allegations regarding Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Yet, in Brussels, they have recklessly ignored international law and the UN Charter, allowing themselves to become pawns of unfounded claims regarding Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the post read.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly condemned the irrelevant and meddlesome EU-GCC statement against Iran, stating it carries many messages.
“The three islands have always belonged to Iran, and will forever remain as such,” the foreign minister asserted, noting, “Era of European malign ‘divide & rule’ interference in our region is long over.”
The Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world. However, the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid claim to the islands.
The islands fell under British control in 1921 but on November 30, 1971, a day after British forces left the region and just two days before the UAE was to become an official federation, Iran’s sovereignty over the islands was restored.
Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, urged the UAE to “end enmity towards Iran over its territorial integrity,” saying that instead of resorting to others, who have economic motives in supporting the UAE’s claim, return to dialogue to resolve the dispute based on historical facts.
Kharrazi said that the EU’s support for the UAE is the “brazen hostility” towards Iran on the pretext of the alleged Iran’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war.
He also said that the EU’s stance has no legal value and is merely a political position to attract aid and financial resources from the rich Persian Gulf countries, especially the UAE, to compensate for the heavy costs of their participation in the war in Ukraine.
Iran’s government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani Mohajerani in a post on her X account said, “Iran’s territorial integrity is not an issue that foreigners dare to talk about.”
“The European Union and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council are not in a position to comment on the great land of Iran,” Mohajerani said.