Tehran has rejected recent territorial claims by the United Arab Emirates over three Persian Gulf islands historically owned by Iran.
In a Wednesday statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi rejected claims made by senior UAE government officials over the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Mousa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed urged Iran on November 27 to respond to his country's efforts to gain control over the three islands.
UAE Foreign Minister, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, meanwhile, urged the international community to persuade Tehran to resolve the perceived dispute through direct negotiations and world arbitration at the International Court of Justice.
"Recent UAE statements regarding islands that are rightfully-owned by Iran are blatant examples of interference in the Islamic Republic's internal affairs," responded the Iranian spokesman.
Qashqavi cautioned UAE officials against their claims of sovereignty over the islands and advised them not to be influenced against their "better judgment".
The US deputy assistant defense secretary for Middle Eastern affairs, Christopher Straub, has also accused Iran of exercising "hegemonic behavior" over the three Persian Gulf islands.
"Iran has to behave like a partner in the neighborhood and not like an irresponsible power," he said in a recent interview published in the official UAE army journal Nation Shield.
The remarks indicated US support for UAE efforts against Iran on the ownership of the strategic islands.
The three Persian Gulf islands were historically owned by Iran but the exercise of colonialism by Britain led to the island temporarily falling under British control in the 1800s.
The islands were then returned to Iran on November 30th 1971 through a legal process before the state of the United Arab Emirates was created and the Al Nahyan assumed leadership.
According to international regulations, no state can defy any agreements which had come into being before its creation unless such agreements had been officially declared as null and void by the newly-created state.
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