UAE federal council slams Iran over Abu Musa

The UAE's Federal National Council (FNC) on Friday called on Iran to dismantle two offices built on the disputed island of Abu Musa.

The FNC described the construction of maritime rescue office and a ship registration office on Abu Musa as "illegal actions" and warned they "do not help in promoting bilateral relations or in building trust between the Iran and the UAE", state news agency WAM reported.

Abu Musa, along with the islands of Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, have been the subject of a long-running sovereignty dispute between the UAE and Iran. Iran controls all three islands located in the Strait of Hormuz, but the UAE claims ownership over them.

Iran, then ruled by the pro-Western shah, gained control of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa as British forces left the Gulf in 1971.

Iran took possession of Greater and Lesser Tunbs, while Abu Musa - the only inhabited island - was placed under joint administration under a deal with Sharjah, now part of the UAE.

However, the UAE has repeatedly accused Iran of violating the MoU and trying to take complete control of the islands.

"FNC urges Iran to comply with the said MoU and therefore revoke all the actions it took on the island and promptly dismantle the facilities it illegally set up since they will not change the state of affairs and the UAE's sovereignty over the island," the FNC said in a statement.

"FNC reiterates the UAE's stand that the issue of sovereignty over the three islands, Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa, should be settled through direct and serious dialogue, by international arbitration or by referral to the International Court of Justice."

The statement by the FNC comes a day after Iran's charge d'affaires in Abu Dhabi was summoned to the foreign ministry after a report broadcast on Iran's state television said Tehran had established the two offices on Abu Musa.

The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiya, also criticised Iran over settling offices on Abu Mousa, stating on Friday that the move was a "striking violation and illegitimate procedure on inseparable part of sovereign state, whose regional safety and territorial unity has to be respected".