“That these islands belong to Iran is an unchanging and non-negotiable [fact],” Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in reaction to the latest statement by the(P)GCC on Wednesday.
According to a Foreign Ministry statement, the Iranian official rejected the (P)GCC statement, adding that the content of the statement clearly interferes in the internal affairs of Iran.
“The time for taking non-constructive stances in the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council statements on the three Iranian islands has passed,” Mehmanparast added.
The spokesman concluded by emphasizing Iran’s fundamental policy of developing relations and cooperation with neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf based on the principles of good neighborliness, mutual respect, and non-intervention in one another’s internal affairs.
The six member states of the (P)GCC -- the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman -- convened their 39th extraordinary meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha on Tuesday in which they condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’ recent visit to the Iranian island of Abu Musa as a “provocative act” that violates the UAE’s sovereign right to the three islands.
President Ahmadinejad arrived on Abu Musa Island on Wednesday, April 11, as part of his tour of the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.
The Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa have historically been part of Iran, the proof of which can be found in and corroborated by countless historical, legal and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world. However, the UAE has repeatedly laid claim to the islands.
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Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has expressed regret about the repetition of baseless claims about the three Persian Gulf islands of the Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa (Persian) by the Gulf Cooperation Council.
News ID 181712
