‘Britain behind UAE FM’s remarks over Iranian islands’

TEHRAN, April 27 (MNA) -- Britain is behind the recent remarks of the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, who likened Iran to Israel, Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Monday.

Last Tuesday, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan likened Tehran’s control of the three Iranian islands of the Lesser and Greater Tunbs and Abu Musa to Israel’s occupation of Arab territories, AFP reported.

“Occupation of any Arab land is occupation… Israeli occupation of Golan Heights, southern Lebanon, West Bank or Gaza is called occupation and no Arab land is dearer than another,” the UAE state news agency WAM quoted Sheikh Abdullah as saying.

Boroujerdi stated that Britain and the United States have always sought to create discord in the region, adding, “This is Britain’s voice heard from the mouth of the UAE’s foreign minister.”

Commenting on the UAE foreign minister’s repetition of the remarks, the lawmaker said the pressure the U.S. and Britain is putting on Arab nations makes them utter such words.

Sheikh Abdullah refused to back down despite Iran’s dissatisfaction and on Sunday repeated his call for Tehran to end its “occupation” of the three islands in the Persian Gulf.

On Saturday, Tehran called the UAE foreign minister’s use of the word “occupation” last week and his explicit comparison of the Iranian islands to Arab lands occupied by Israel “brazen and imprudent”.

However, on a visit with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday, Sheikh Abdullah again called Iran’s possession of the three islands an occupation that was hindering Iran’s relations with all its Arab neighbors.

“The UAE’s position is one of hope that the Iranian side will end this dispute peacefully and calmly,” Sheikh Abdullah told Reuters after his meeting with Abbas.

“We hope the Iranian side will look at this dispute and the occupation not only as an obstacle to improve relations between our two countries but also as an obstacle to Iran’s relations with other Arab states. For the sake of everybody, we hope this issue will be resolved peacefully and as soon as possible.”

Boroujerdi said that Iran is pursuing a policy of establishing amicable relations with regional nations, and especially with Persian Gulf littoral states.

Since the Islamic Revolution, certain countries, including the United States and Britain, have tried to implant a negative image of Iran in the minds of Arab officials in order to undermine the good relationship between Iran and the Arab states, he added.

They have also made efforts to make Arab countries afraid of the Islamic Republic in order to convince them to buy their arms, he stated.

Meanwhile, MP Ismail Kousari of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Monday that such remarks were implanted in the minds of UAE officials by the Zionist regime.

Kousari stated that those who are the puppets of the Zionist regime and neglect their own people’s interests are trying to make themselves look important.

There are maps and historical documents, some of which are kept in British museums, that prove Iran’s ownership of the three islands, he noted.

These documents show that the three islands have belonged to Iran for thousands of years, he added.