UAE Refuses To Back Down On Claims Iran Is "Occupying" 3 Of Its Islands

Iran has been one of the major champions of the Palestinian people and detractors of Israel, clamouring on about the Israeli occupation of Palestine. And yet, it seems they too are occupiers, at least according to the folks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to the foreign minister of the UAE, Iran has been "occupying" three Islands off the Gulf that the UAE claims as its own. In fact, other Arab states are in agreement. This, of course, has sent the Iranian government into apoplexy since they refuse to acknowledge that fact, and were infuriated by the comparison to the Israelis.

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The minister's use of the word last week and his explicit comparison of the islands claimed by the UAE to Arab lands occupied by Israel was called "brazen and impudent" by Tehran, which said on Saturday it hoped he had been misquoted.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, quoted by a semi-official news agency on Saturday, said he hoped the UAE minister had been misquoted. He added: "The repetition of such statements will ensure the intense reaction of the Iranian people."

But UAE's foreign minister refused to be cowed by Iranian threats and reiterated his demands that Iran end occupation of the three isles: Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tuns.

After a recent meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan told Reuters that

"The UAE's position is one of hope that the Iranian side will end this dispute peacefully and calmly," Sheikh Abdullah told Reuters after his meeting with Abbas.

"We hope the Iranian side will look at this dispute and the occupation not only as an obstacle to improving relations between our two countries but also as an obstacle to Iran's relations with Arab states. For the sake of everybody, we hope this issue will be resolved peacefully and as soon as possible."

Last week, Sheikh Abdullah was quoted by the UAE news agency saying: "Occupation of any Arab land is occupation ... Israeli occupation of Golan Heights, southern Lebanon, West Bank or Gaza is called occupation and no Arab land is dearer than another."

I can understand why the Arab states all back UAEs claims, since Iran's rogue leader Ahmadinejad is not to be trusted, and UAE would seem a better ally. It seems Iran is digging itself deeper into a position of isolation in the world, and it will be interesting to see how they deal with this new problem. If they are indeed 'occupying' those islands, they have no right to say anything about Israel's 'occupation' of Palestine. The shoe is now on the other foot, so to speak.