"The Islamic Republic of Iran assumes exercising its sovereignty over the Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb as its legal right," Amir Abdollahian told on Tuesday.
He dismissed the UAE and other sides' baseless claims on the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, and said, "As regards the country's national security and sovereignty, the Islamic Republic of Iran doesn't allow anyone to make an aggression and will adopt effective actions" against such aggressive moves.
In relevant remarks earlier today, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast also deplored the territorial claims raised by the UAE over the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, and reiterated that the three islands are indispensible parts of the Iranian territory.
"The three Iranian islands are indispensable and everlasting parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran's soil and the repetition of such baseless claims will have no impact on the realities on the ground," Mehman-Parast said on Tuesday.
Stressing that raising such claims will have not benefit for the two countries' interests and relations, he expressed the hope that the UAE government would move in the direction of regional cooperation and convergence which are vital for the interests of the countries and their people and consolidation of stability and security in the region.
International documents clearly show that the three islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa which were historically owned by Iran, temporarily fell to British control in 1903. The islands were returned to Iran based on an agreement in 1971 before the UAE was born.
Iran has repeatedly declared that its ownership of the three islands is unquestionable.
Under international law, no state can defy any agreement, which came into being before its establishment.
Yet, the UAE continues to make territorial claims against the Islamic Republic despite historical evidence and international regulations.
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