GCC condemns Iran's occupation of three UAE islands

The Ministerial Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf held its 164th session, corresponding to June 2, 2025 in Kuwait City, chaired by Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Yahya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, Chairman of the current session of the Ministerial Council.

The Ministerial Council affirmed its firm positions and previous decisions condemning Iran's continued occupation of the three islands (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa) of the United Arab Emirates, reaffirming the following:

— Supporting the United Arab Emirates' right of sovereignty over its three islands, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, and over the territorial waters, airspace, continental shelf, and exclusive economic zone of the three islands, as they are an integral part of the United Arab Emirates.

— Considering any decisions, practices, or actions taken by Iran on the three islands null and void and do not change the historical and legal facts that unanimously support the UAE's right of sovereignty over its three islands.

— Calling on Iran to respond to the UAE's efforts to resolve the issue through direct negotiations or by resorting to the International Court of Justice.

The Ministerial Council condemned the Iranian government’s continued construction of residential facilities to settle Iranians on the three Emirati islands occupied by Iran, and the escalating positions and measures taken by the Iranian authorities, including the statements issued by the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Naval Forces, Ali Reza Tangsiri, on March 1, 2025, claiming ownership of the three islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, belonging to Iran, and the announcement by Ali Akbar Safaei, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, on November 5, 2024, of the start of construction of (110) housing units on Abu Musa Island, and the announcement of the opening of the Abu Musa Multipurpose Port, and the statements issued by the Iranian Minister of Heritage, Culture, and Tourism, Reza Salehi Amiri, on November 1, 2024, regarding the existence of a plan to establish a tourist, recreational, and residential complex extending over an area of ​​30 hectares on Abu Musa Island, and the statements issued by the Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Arsalan Maleki, on May 12, 2024, regarding Iran’s intention to provide land and residential projects that are not Legitimacy in the occupied island of Abu Musa.

The Ministerial Council condemned the Iranian military maneuvers involving the three occupied islands of the United Arab Emirates—Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa—and the territorial waters, airspace, continental shelf, and exclusive economic zone of the three islands, considering them an integral part of the territory of the United Arab Emirates.

The most recent of these maneuvers took place on May 13, 2025, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' naval forces implemented new operational military arrangements in the area of ​​what Iran calls the "Naziat Islands," which comprise the three UAE islands occupied by Iran.

This exercise was conducted upon the orders of Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. 38. The Ministerial Council condemned the repeated visits by senior Iranian officials to the three occupied UAE islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, the most recent of which was on April 13, 2025.

Ahmad Nafisi, Assistant for Political and Security Affairs to the Governor of Hormozgan Province, participated in the ceremony held on Abu Musa Island to bid farewell to the island's new and former governor, stating, "The three islands were and will always remain Iranian."

On March 22, 2025, Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, and a number of senior IRGC Navy field commanders also visited the UAE islands occupied by Iran, inspecting bases and underground warehouses and reviewing the readiness of equipment, missiles, and air defense systems.

On March 8, 2025, Farzana Sadiq, Minister of Roads and Urban Development, honored the winners of an architectural competition for the Abu Musa residential complex on the UAE island of Abu Musa, occupied by Iran. The Minister stated, "Abu Musa is not just an island; it is also part of the national identity."

The Ministerial Council commended the European Union's position on the Iranian occupation of the three occupied islands belonging to the United Arab Emirates in the joint statement of the first GCC-EU summit issued on October 16, 2024, in Brussels.