Another crisis is brewing in the Middle East, this time between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Iranian president Ahmadinejad took the unprecedented step of visiting the disputed Gulf island of Abu Musa that both countries claim along with two other islands of Lesser and Greater Tunb. This prompted the normally reticent UAE to condemn the visit in the “strongest possible terms” and recall its ambassador from Iran. Additionally a football match between both states was cancelled by the UAE.
The UAE maintains that Iran occupied the three islands in November 1971 in the cover of the night during the short window between the British withdrawal from the Trucial States and the announcement of the UAE as a federation of these states. The UAE archives carry pre-invasion photos of the islands with the flag of the UAE emirate of Sharjah hoisted.
Since Iran seized the three islands by force in 1971, it has employed a policy similar to successive Israeli governments of “creating facts on the ground” while the territories remain under its control. In 1992 Iran banned the entry of 100 UAE citizens of Abu Musa to the island. It then started a slew of infrastructure and settlement projects such as building an airport, a desalination plant and a courthouse. Then following the presidency of Iran’s Mohammed Khatami (1996-2004), Iran’s politically novice and provocative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad identified the UAE islands as a means to deflect internal grievances and garner support from hardliners. In 2008, after more than a decade of silence on the issue Iran announced additional construction projects including expanded settlement activity.
Throughout the years the UAE has called upon Iran to either resolve the dispute through direct negotiations or the through the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Iran continuously maintains that, "according to international documents and historical background, there is no doubt about Iranian ownership of the three islands" adding that the ICJ has “no jurisdiction” over the islands. Back in 2001 Bahrain and Qatar went through a similar process at the ICJ that is proposed by the UAE over disputed islands in the Gulf and resolved the issue after decades of misunderstanding.
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