Iran's vision of security and stability isn't grounded in reality - opinion

• Published date: 24 March 2024
• Author: SALEM ALKETBI
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The Iranian regime's general and repeated positions toward its Arab neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the last period have not undergone any positive change corresponding to the developments observed recently in relations between the Arab countries of the Gulf

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on the joint Emirati-Kuwaiti statement regarding the three occupied Emirati islands.

Kanaani said: "As has been repeatedly emphasized, the three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb are an inseparable and eternal part of Iranian territories, and referring to them in this statement or repeated statements at other meetings is devoid of any political and legal value and is considered interference in Iran's internal affairs."

He added that "The Islamic Republic will never consider its territorial sovereignty negotiable."

In addition to the tone of arrogance and superiority to which Iranian political discourse is accustomed regarding the issue of the three Emirati islands, Tehran never stops to realize that the three-island question will remain a permanent obstacle in its relations with the United Arab Emirates unless a solution is found in accordance with the civilized formulas proposed by the UAE: either through direct negotiations according to a precise timetable, or by submitting the issue to international arbitration.

Personally, I don't see why Tehran should persist in rejecting either or both of these formulas, given that it is fully convinced of the legality of the islands' situation and of its alleged sovereignty over them.

Iran's intransigence is not limited to the question of the Emirati islands but also extends to another issue linked to other neighbors of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, namely Al-Durra gas field.

Kanaani commented on the Emirati-Kuwaiti statement on this subject, saying, "We have repeatedly said that making unilateral claims in such statements does not grant any rights to the claimant," thereby parroting the Iranian intent to exercise hegemony by imposing opinions on others and denying them their rights – or even denying them a declaration of their rights or their right to insist on them.

Iran continues to reject Gulf States' claims

Iran has also rejected the final declaration of the 159th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council held in Riyadh, which affirms that "Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have every right to exploit the natural...