News / Politics

Iran summons Chinese ambassador over support for ‘baseless’ claims on trio islands

Sunday, 02 June 2024 11:06 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 02 June 2024 11:06 AM ]

The file photo shows a view of Iran's Foreign Ministry building in the capital Tehran.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned China’s ambassador to Tehran to protest Beijing’s support for “baseless claims” about three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf.

Ambassador Cong Peiwu was summoned by Mohammad Alibak, an aide to the foreign minister and the director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Persian Gulf Department, on Sunday, according to a statement by the ministry.

The Chinese envoy was "notified of the protest of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government regarding the repetition of the Chinese government’s support for the baseless claims about the three islands in paragraph 26 of the final statement of the China-UAE joint meeting," it added.

The three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world.

However, the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid claim to the islands.

The islands fell under British control in 1921 but on November 30, 1971, a day after British forces left the region and just two days before the UAE was to become an official federation, Iran’s sovereignty over the islands was restored.

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