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Arab Group at UN writes to Ban protesting Iran’s occupation of disputed island

18 April 2012 21:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The group of Arab countries at the United Nations in New York wrote a letter to UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon, protesting against Iran’s "occupation" of Abu Musa island in the Gulf, United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM reported Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The letter is an effort of Arab states, and Gulf Arab states in particular, to increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran, after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad visited on April 11 Abu Musa, a disputed Gulf island which both Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) claims as their own territory.

Iran rejected the UAE’s accusations, insisting that historical documents have proven that Abu Musa, as well as neighboring islands Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb were "Persian."

The UAE recalled its ambassador to Iran last Thursday and called Iran’s actions on Abu Musa a "risk for international peace and security."

On Tuesday, foreign ministers of the six states of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) came together in Doha in an emergency meeting on Iran. The GCC condemned Ahmadinedjad’s trip likewise as "povocative" and called on Tehran to end the "occupation" through negotiations with Abu Dhabi.