UAE's Protest To Ahmadinejad's Visit Of Abu Musa, Illegal: Scholar

New Delhi, May 1, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Abu Musa Island was legal, Iranian researcher Mohammad Jam said here on Monday. Jam made the remark in an exclusive interview with IRNA. “Ahmadinejad's visit to Abu Musa was an internal affair of Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or the other Arab League countries do not have a right to protest to such actions.” Writer of the book titled “Documents Contributed to the Name of Persian Gulf as an Old Everlasting Inheritance” noted that the Iranian president’s visit to Abu Musa is not contrary to the 1971 Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the British appointed Sharjah sheik at the time. “The 1971’s Memorandum of Understanding was an introduction to the return of Iranian Islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and the Lesser Tonbs to the mainland, formerly occupied by UK colonizers. “It has been 40 years that Abu Musa Islands has been reattached to the motherland and they are under the governance of Iran’s central government and as a consequence, their status quo over the past four decades is another proof for Iran’s territorial rights.” Jam underlined that the international community and the UN Security Council will not support UAE's claims on Iranian islands of Abu Mussa, Tonb-e Bozorg and Tonb-e Kuchak because there are lots of such disputes among Arab countries, themselves as well as other members of the international community. “The islands of Abu Mussa, Tonb-e Bozorg and Tonb-e Kuchak have been part of Iran’s territory until UK occupation in the early 20th century and they have been reattached to the mainland during the later agreements.”