Arab League’s unwise stance will deepen gaps in Mideast: Iran

Iran has vehemently dismissed a statement issued by the Ministerial Council of the Arab League about three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, saying such injudicious approaches would deepen divisions in the Middle East.

“Such injudicious stances will lead to even more gaps among regional countries and a delay in purposeful regional cooperation,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, said on Sunday.

He added that the statement stemmed from the Arab League’s political motives and its failure to understand historical realities and was a blatant example of interference in Iran’s internal affairs.

“The principled policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the Persian Gulf littoral states is the observance of good neighborliness, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries as well as heeding historical and legal realities and the current sensitive situation in the region,” Qassemi pointed out.

At the end of its 146th session in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Friday, the Arab League’s Ministerial Council issued a statement in which it claimed that the three islands of the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa belong to the United Arab Emirates and expressed its support for the UAE's measures to regain its sovereignty over the islands.

The islands of the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Bum-Musa (Abu Musa) have always been part of Iran historically, 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 United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid baseless claims to the islands.

EA