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Iran Condemns GCC Statement on Disputed Gulf Islands
Iran on Sunday strongly condemned the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for its accusation of Iran's holding of military exercises in disputed gulf islands.
The foreign ministers of the GCC states have issued a statement accusing Iran of provocation by staging military exercises in the three gulf islands, over which both Iran and the United Arab Emirates, a GCC member, claim sovereignty.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the three islands, the greater and lesser Tumbs and Abu Mousa near the mouth of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, are an eternal part of Iran's territory.
Therefore, he said, the Islamic republic is entitled to holding military exercises in the islands to reinforce security and stability in the Persian Gulf.
The military exercises in the islands serve the security in the region from which all the Persian Gulf states will benefit, Asefi said. He called on the UAE to enter into direct talks with Iran without any precondition "to avoid a kind of policy from which the regional states are suffering".
He also urged GCC states to go along with Iran in fostering cooperation among the regional states and mobilizing their resources to deal with the Israeli "Zionist regime".
Iran says that it has been controlling the three islands since the withdrawal of British colonists from the region in 1971. But the UAE rejects Iran's claim of sovereignty over them.
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