Iran Condemns Arab-Russian Statement on Persian Gulf Trio Islands
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry refuted the contents of a joint statement from several Arab countries and Russia about Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb, describing the islands as inseparable and eternal parts of Iran’s territory.
Nasser Kanaani on Thursday condemned the issues raised in a joint statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum about the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf.
Rejecting the baseless contents of the statement from Russia and the Arab countries about the Iranian islands, the spokesman said those three islands are an inseparable part of Iran’s national territory and will belong to Iran forever.
Iran maintains that its territorial integrity and national sovereignty over the three Persian Gulf islands will never be subject to negotiations, rejects any claim made by anyone on the islands, and will not by any means budge on its sovereign and territorial rights, he stated.
Highlighting Iran’s respect for good neighborliness and its policy of strengthening ties with neighbors, Kanaani said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran calls on all of its northern and southern neighbors to move towards stronger relations by considering the actual and potential capacities available at the bilateral and regional levels and avoid repeating a series of refuted claims.”
Iran will have no hesitation whatsoever in safeguarding its territorial integrity, he reminded Russia and the Arab states.
The islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world.
In the final statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum, held in the southern Moroccan city of Marrakech on December 20, the participants supported peaceful solutions and initiatives to resolve what they called the conflict on the three islands through bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice.
