The European Union supports the UAE's stand calling for a peaceful solution to Iran-occupied islands of Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Moussa either through direct negotiations or referring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said a senior official on Thursday.
In remarks at the end of a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council and EU foreign ministers in the Spanish city of Granada, Ambassador Abdullah Rashid Al Nuaimi, Assistant Undersecretary for Political Affairs and head of the UAE delegation to the meeting, said "Iran still carries out unacceptable actions in the occupied UAE islands such as construction of settlements, and encouraging Iranian citizens to migrate to them, in an attempt to change the demographic and historical set up of the islands and to impose a fait accompli.”
According to The Gulf News daily, he added that Iran carried out a number of military incursions and exercises in the UAE territorial waters and its airspace.
Al Nuaimi stated that Iran had yet to offer a positive response to the repeated calls of the UAE on finding a just and peaceful solution to the issue of the occupied islands.
"The EU and the GCC noted the gradual improvement of relations with Iran and hoped that it would be possible to address outstanding issues of serious concern," the two sides said in their joint statement at the end of the meeting.
"The Parties expressed concern at the lack of progress towards resolution of the territorial conflict between the United Arab Emirates and Iran over Abu Moussa and the Tunbs Islands," it added.
Both Iran and the UAE have said they will never retract their claims to the strategic islands, which Iran has held since 1971 when Britain pulled out of the region. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
