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29 March 2024

New political strategy to handle islands: Gargash

Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Picture courtesy (www.mofa.gov.ae)

Published
By Wam

Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, has called on Iran to enter into negotiations with the UAE over the three islands, occupied by Iran, and to refrain from using arrogant language.

''The UAE today is not that small injured baby which born on 2nd December 1971 rather it's a key State with huge potentials,'' Dr Gargash asserted, calling on Iran to be a mature state and to take into consideration ''neighbour relationships that link the two countries.”

''We will remain neighbours forever despite our differences,” the minister told Dubai TV.

The UAE, he affirmed, is a wise, respectable State adopting civilised approaches to restore its right.

''We are following a long-patience policy''.

The minister's statement came within the UAE's reaction - which analysts considered as ''unprecedented in term of its strength''- to the recent visit made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to Abu Musa Island, which Iran occupied along with Greater and Lesser Tunbs, since 1971 on the eve of the birth of the UAE Federation.

Dr Gargash unveiled in an interview with Dubai TV, which will be broadcast Sunday evening, that the UAE will adopt a new political strategy in handing the issue of its occupied islands to press for its demands through peaceful diplomatic channels under the umbrella of the international law.

''We are mulling all possible options before us in this respect,'' he said, adding that the next phase will see intensive drive for UAE diplomacy.

He emphasised that it's not in the interest of either UAE or Iran to escalate the situation because solution of a bilateral problem will not be reached through provocative statements.

Dr Gargash noted that UAE's firm and decisive reaction to the Iranian violation of its sovereignty has nothing to do with what the Iranians were talking about a foreign move.

''We have fed up with the record of foreign pressure which the Iranians kept parroting''.

The UAE's reaction was strong, he went on to say, because Ahmedinejad's visit to Abu Musa was an ''unprecedented development''.

''It is the first time an Iranian president pays a visit to our occupied islands''.

The visit, he indicated, has circumvented all efforts to initiate bilateral negotiations over a whole year.

The minister said the UAE was shocked by Ahmedinejad's visit to Abu Musa island, which undermined Tehran's credibility.

He attributed the UAE's surprise to the fact that ''the visit was conducted at a time when the two countries reached an understanding on negotiation over the islands.

“After arduous efforts for months, the two sides agreed that it was time to solve the problem.

“They even went further with the UAE naming its negotiator and Iran assigning senior advisor to Ahmedinejad to the mission.”

Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, expressed his confidence at the solidity of the UAE historic and legal attitude because ''It is based on realistic and tangible historic evidence that proof the UAE ownership of the islands.

''The UAE stands ready to risk its historic and legal facts and win or lose at the International Court of Justice.

Refuting any sense of reality about Iran's allegations of having historic facts confirming their ownership of the islands, Dr Gargash wondered ''He who has such facts is supposed to accept international arbitration''.