Iran waffles over Tonb Islands
The Tonb Islands and Abu Musa are Iranian territory and the mullahs have no right to hand them over to Arabs
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140115/DEFREG04/301150034/Source-UAE-Iran-Reach-Accord-Disputed-Hormuz-Islands
Qabus and UAE would not be in power were it not for Mohammed HIM Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi - Shahanshah Aryamehr and this deal is a betrayal of Iran by people they had helped. Additionally this is an act of weakness when Iran is threatened, I am amazed Iran did not move more of it's forces to the Tonb Islands.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140115/DEFREG04/301150034/Source-UAE-Iran-Reach-Accord-Disputed-Hormuz-Islands
Qabus and UAE would not be in power were it not for Mohammed HIM Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi - Shahanshah Aryamehr and this deal is a betrayal of Iran by people they had helped. Additionally this is an act of weakness when Iran is threatened, I am amazed Iran did not move more of it's forces to the Tonb Islands.
Source:
UAE, Iran Reach Accord on Disputed Hormuz Islands
Jan. 15, 2014 - 03:45AM
| By AWAD MUSTAFA |
|
defensenews.com
|
ABU DHABI — The United Arab
Emirates and Iran have reached an agreement on the three disputed islands near
the Strait of Hormuz, according to a high level UAE source.
According to the source, UAE and Iranian
officials have engaged in secretive talks with the help of the Omani government
over the past six months.
“A deal has been reached and finalized on the
Greater and Lesser Tunbs,” the source said. “For now, two of the three islands
are to return to the UAE while the final agreement for Abu Musa is being ironed
out.”
“Iran will retain the sea bed rights around
the three islands while the UAE will hold sovereignty over the land,” he said.
“Oman will grant Iran a strategic location on Ras Musandam mountain, which is a
very strategic point overlooking the whole gulf region.
“In return for Ras Musandam, Oman will
receive free gas and oil from Iran once a pipeline is constructed within the
coming two years.”
The source added that Oman’s role will be
important in the next chapter.
“Oman was given the green light from Iran and
the US to reach deals that would decrease the threat levels in the region and
offset the Saudi Arabian influence in the future by any means,” he said.
The agreement was finalized on Dec. 24, the
source said, during the visit of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi
crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with Sultan
Qaboos bin Said of Oman.
The strategically located islands of Abu Musa
and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs are close to the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s
most important oil chokepoint. The islands were occupied by Iran’s Shah Mohammad
Reza Pehlavi less than 48 hours before the declaration in 1971 of the
establishment of the United Arab Emirates.
The largest of the three Islands, Abu Musa,
had been under joint administration of the emirate of Sharjah and Iran, while
the Greater and Lesser Tunbs belonged to the emirate of Ras al Khaimah,
according to official UAE records.
Last year, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Command inaugurated a naval base on Abu Musa. The source stated that the Iranian
military on Abu Musa has already started to stand down.
“They are in the process of destroying their
bunkers on the island,” he said.
Furthermore, a senior US military official in
December said that Iran has redeployed a squadron of Su-25 jet fighters off Abu
Musa.
After the announcement of the P5+1 interim
nuclear deal, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed visited Tehran to
discuss the islands issue, the source said. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
came to Abu Dhabi the following week to meet with UAE President Sheikh Khalifa
bin Zayed al-Nahyan and other senior leaders to further cement an agreement, he
said.
The source added that there is a fear of a
violent backlash in Iran to the deal.
Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst for the
International Crisis Group, said he is skeptical of the news.
“[Iranian] President [Hassan] Rouhani is in a
fragile domestic situation as a result of hardline criticism of his conciliatory
nuclear approach and outreach to the United States,” he said. “Under these
circumstances, any move perceived as undermining the country’s sovereignty could
turn into the last straw that breaks the Rouhani administration’s back.”
However, he said the Iranian government is
genuinely seeking to improve its ties with its neighbors, and such a move has to
be green-lighted by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Such foreign policy agenda requires the
supreme leader’s blessing for its implementation,” Vaez said. “But neither the
Rouhani administration nor Khamenei would accept to capitulate to the demands of
their neighbors for the sake of having a better relationship with them.”
During Foreign Minister Zarif’s visit in
December, an invitation was extended to UAE’s president Vice President Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid to visit Tehran. Earlier this week during an interview on
BBC, Bin Rashid stated that he is for the lifting of the US-imposed sanctions on
Iran and was in favor of bridging the gap between the two countries.
Before sanctions were imposed in 2007, trade
between the UAE and Iran was valued between 36.7 billion dirhams and 44.1
billion dirhams (US $10 billion to $12 billion), according to the Iranian
Business Council in Dubai. US Secretary of State John Kerry in November said
that after the introduction of tougher sanctions in 2012, trade has dropped to a
record low of $4 billion. ■
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home