Iran rejects international institutions as arbitors of dispute with UAE

Iran said today that the three Iranian islands that are in dispute with the United Arab Emirates are Iranian territories, refusing to take this issue to the United Nations for arbitration.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA reported: "The three islands of Abu Moussa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs are inseparable part of the Iranian territory and any claim in this regard is rejected," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.

IRNA reported: The official also chided the Emirati government for seeking to take the issue to the UN Security Council, saying, "The efforts by the United Arab Emirates to raise the issue at regional and international circles is unwise. Asefi also urged the UAE to 'avoid stoking up controversial issues at a time when the Persian Gulf region needs tranquility and peace for progress and prosperity'.

The official touched on a raft of negotiations held between Iran and the UAE, saying that "the only way to remove existing insignificant misunderstanding over the Iranian island of Abu Moussa is (to continue) bilateral dialogue in an amicable atmosphere far from controversies and propaganda," IRNA said.

IRNA noted "Iran has already rejected the settling of the issue at the International Court of Justice, contending that it is a case dismissed, which has been brought up once at the arbitration body and seen the two countries sign an MoU in 1971."