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Iran’s parliament security committee to meet on Abu Musa island

29 April 2012 00:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Members of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee plans to hold a meeting on Abu Musa Island on Sunday, April 29, which is National Persian Gulf Day, MP Mohammad Karami-Rad has announced, APA reports citing Mehr News Agency.

National Persian Gulf Day marks the anniversary of the expulsion of Portuguese military forces from the Strait of Hormuz in 1622, during the reign of Safavid king Shah Abbas I (1587-1629).

The decision by MPs to hold the meeting has been made in response to UAE officials’ recent criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the Iranian island of Abu Musa on April 11.

The UAE has repeatedly questioned Iran’s sovereignty over the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and urged Tehran to agree to take the dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague or engage in direct negotiations.

The UAE claimed on April 11 that Ahmadinejad’s visit to Abu Musa Island had been "a flagrant violation of the United Arab Emirates’ sovereignty over its territory and a transgression of efforts to find a peaceful settlement to end Iranian occupation of the three UAE islands."

Iran says its sovereignty over the islands is not negotiable but has called for talks with the UAE to clear up misunderstandings.

During an interview with the Persian service of Zendegi News on Saturday, MP Karami-Rad said, "During the trip by the committee to commemorate Persian Gulf Day, MPs will visit the three islands and will hold meetings."

In the meetings, recent claims by the UAE concerning the island of Abu Musa and Saudi Arabia’s support for such claims will be discussed.

In addition to claims to Iranian islands, certain efforts have been made to distort the name of the Persian Gulf.

Although there is no dispute over the official name of the Persian Gulf among geographers or at international organizations like the United Nations, certain Arab countries and a few Western states and media outlets have begun using the false names the "Arabian Gulf" or "The Gulf" for this body of water.

Over the course of history, it has been called the Pars Sea, Pars Gulf, Fars Sea, Fars Gulf, or Bahre (Sea) Fars, all meaning Persian Sea or Persian Gulf.

It seems that Western officials and media outlets are not using its real name, the Persian Gulf, in order to please a certain set of prejudiced Arab leaders.

And certain regional Arab states have been taking advantage of the fact that Iran has frosty relations with the West.