Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the highly controversial and provocative step of visiting the island of Abu Mousa, located in the Arabian Gulf off of the coast of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), marking the first time an Iranian head-of-state has visited these occupied territories in over forty years.

In November of 1971, Iran occupied Abu Mousa, killing three Emirati policemen and has continued to occupy Abu Mousa and the neighboring Greater and Lesser Tunbs islands ever since.  The three occupied islands have been a major point of contention between the Iran and the U.A.E.; straining efforts to create a constructive neighborly relationship between the two countries.

Following Ahmadinejad’s trip on Wednesday, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the U.A.E., publicly condemned the visit; calling it a diplomatic “set-back” and “flagrant violation” of the U.A.E.’s sovereignty.  In a statement published by WAM, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah maintains that the three islands belong to the U.A.E. and that Ahmadinejad’s visit was a clear detriment to the achievements made toward settling the dispute between Iran and the U.A.E.

“This visit will not change the legal status of these islands, which are part and parcel of the U.A.E. national soil,” said His Highness Sheikh Abdullah.

According to WAM, the Federal National Council (FNC), also publicly condemned the visit and the U.A.E. Foreign Ministry recalled Saif Mohammad Obaid Al Za’abi, the U.A.E. Ambassador to Iran, to Abu Dhabi for consultations on Thursday.

According to Iranian press, the purpose of Ahmadinejad’s visit was to deliver a speech to “a large crowd of people” about the importance of regional security and the safety of countries in the Gulf.  The visit comes at a time when political tensions in the region remain high and when the United States and Europe continuously press Iran to halt its pursuit of nuclear energy by imposing economic sanctions on them; encouraging allies in the Gulf, and broader region, to recognize and enforce the sanctions.

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To read the official U.A.E. government press release, visit: http://ow.ly/aerRd

To read the WAM article about the Federal National Council’s condemnation of the visit:http://ow.ly/aevDY 

To read the WAM article about the recalling of the U.A.E. Envoy to Iran: http://ow.ly/aevwA   

For the news story in The National, a local English daily in the U.A.E., visit: http://ow.ly/aerVB