The basic truth of the matter is that the three islands have been part of Iran or former Persia since the reign of Elam civilization from 3000 BC.

 

Tehran, May 14, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iran official tells Persian Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah to accept the historical fact that Persian Gulf islands of greater and lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa are inseparable from Iran.

 

Iran periodically reminds PGCC members of its sovereignty over the three strategic islands as some newly founded Persian Gulf states lay claims on these islands from time to time. During their last meeting PGCC General Secretary Abu Attiyah repeated  a similar claim once again.

 

In Tehran Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mihman-Parast quickly brushed aside Abu Attiyah’s baseless conjecture by saying, ‘ the Islands of the lesser and greater Tunbs and Abu Musa have always been and will remain Iranian.’ He invited PGCC member for constructive dialogue to clear misunderstanding on this issue.

 

The basic truth of the matter is that the three islands have been part of Iran or former Persia since the reign of Elam civilization from 3000 BC. The ancient Iranian sailors were the first humans that settled on all of the islands as far as Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Other regions on the southern shores of Persian Gulf today comprising of what is UAE today were vast uninhabited sand dunes stretching all the way to Arabia proper. UAE itself came into existence as an independent state no less than 40 years ago when former British Empire worked out a settlement amongst tribal heads. 

 

According to international conventions, a newly established state cannot defy an already existing arrangement. Ignorance of this simple law could lead to states laying unfounded claims on each other’s territory almost at will.