copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-02-13): The enduring and legitimate presence of Iran has been instrumental in upholding stability and security in this critical regional and global thoroughfare. This strategic presence has thwarted attempts by Western powers to assert control through their allies and undermine the region's security. However, the names of the three islands have Persian origins. "Abu Musa" is short for "Bum Musa," referring to the house of Musa, while "Tunb" is derived from the Persian Tangestani, meaning hill and mound. Examining historical records reveals that these islands have been an integral part of Iran's territory until the interference of Western colonial powers in the region. In the early 16th century, the Portuguese were the first colonial power to enter into the Persian Gulf, subsequently seizing Hormuz Island. Over time, other colonial powers began to make their way into this region. British forces entered the Persian Gulf under the guise of securing shipping routes and curbing the slave trade. After some time, they occupied these Iranian islands and handed them over to the emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. After 68 years of persistent efforts by Iran, Iranian forces reasserted sovereignty over the Abu Musa and Tunb Islands on the morning of November 30, 1971. This took place one day before the official withdrawal of British forces from the Persian Gulf and two days prior to the formation of the United Arab Emirates.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-13): International: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani reasserted Iran’s claims to three islands and a disputed oil and gas field in the Persian Gulf. "The Iranian islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb are an inseparable and eternal part of the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Kanani emphasized. "Any claim to the three islands is an interference in Iran's internal affairs and territorial integrity, and we strongly condemn it." He was responding to Gulf Cooperation Council statement backing the claim of the United Arab Emirates to the islands.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-30): A diplomatic source close to the UAE-China negotiations told Iran International that Beijing has decided not to support the UAE's claim of ownership over the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb at this meeting. [...] In the joint statement from the Russia-Arab countries meeting held on December 20, 2023, in Morocco, Russia once again supported Abu Dhabi's position on the three islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa was once again supported.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-08-17): Iran’s current system of straight baselines that connects islands in the Persian Gulf appears not have great significance for the passage regime in the Strait of Hormuz. When selecting base points for its system of straight baselines, Iran respected the rule that a base point that is located on land over which there are contested sovereignty claims cannot constitute an "appropriate point" in terms of Article 7(1) of losc. The title over the islands of Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa, located in the eastern end of the Persian Gulf, is contested between Iran and the United Arab Emirates since 1971 when Iran occupied the islands.50 [...] However, Section 3(2) of the Iranian Marine Areas Act stipulates that waters on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea, and waters between islands belonging to Iran, where the distance of such islands does not exceed 24 nm, form part of the internal waters and are under Iran’s sovereignty. The islands of Tunbs, Abu Musa, Forur, Bani Forur and Sirri are all located within [...] Abu Musa, the most distant island as measured from the Iranian coast, is located some 24 nm away from its closest neighbouring island of Sirri.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-10-01): "We renew our demand to end Iran's occupation of the UAE's three islands: Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa. History and international law bear testimony to the UAE’s sovereignty over the three islands. We will never stop our legitimate claim to these islands, either through direct negotiation or through the International Court of Justice." [...] Abu Musa, a 12.8 square-kilometer island, has a small population of just over 2,000 people living on it. The Greater Tunb, with an area of 10.3 square kilometers, and the Lesser Tunb, just two square kilometers, both have little to no inhabitants, aside from Iran military personnel. Though the UAE claims sovereignty over them, with Abu Musa belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah and the Tunbs belonging to the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, all three islands are de facto controlled by Iran and are administered as part of the Hormozgan Province.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-09): Officials in Tehran maintain that the islands belonged to successive Persian empires, while their Emirati counterparts claim that Arab traders ruled Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa for centuries before the British arrived. The three islands themselves are barren. Greater and Lesser Tunbs are uninhabited, while Abu Musa is home to approximately 2,000 permanent civilian residents. In 1972, there were 800 natives on Abu Musa, mostly Arabs descended from the Qasimi tribe, though "a few unskilled Iranian laborers arrived" after Iran seized it. Abu Musa’s Emirati residents have complained that Iran’s government has altered the island’s demographics by moving in Iranian "settlers" to the point where Iranians now far outnumber Emirati citizens and expatriates on Abu Musa. Media outlets in the UAE have reported that Iranian authorities in Abu Musa routinely harass Emiratis and expatriates on the island to try to pressure them into leaving. The islands are also strategically valuable to both sides due to their location near the Strait of Hormuz. Whichever country controls Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa can dominate the sea lanes coming in and out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used Abu Musa to mount attacks during the "Tanker War" (1984-88).
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-01-01): The statement was full of symbolism, as Baqeri spoke from Abu Musa island, which been a dispute between Iran and the UAE. This also comes in the backdrop of UAE's U-turn on Syria. From being one of the most vocal critics of Bashar al Assad to opening up an embassy in Damascus, the oil-rich kingdom has departed from its previous foreign policy, which was to overthrow pro-Iranian Assad regime and replace it with the one which has the blessings of the Gulf coalition. [...] "The (Iranian) chief of staff's speech against the regional enemies from the Abu Musa island is an open challenge against the UAE," said Omer Duran, an Istanbul based Middle East expert. " [...] Duran said access to Abu Musa island gives Iran a strategic edge over the UAE, since it is located in the Strait of Hormuz. A third of the world’s sea-borne oil passes through the strait from the Middle East crude producers to major Asian markets.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-12-24): Iran took control of the three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb after British forces withdrew in 1971. It considers them an "inseparable" part of its territory. The UAE also claims the three islands and has long pressed for a negotiated solution. [...] Iran says the islands have been part of Persian states from antiquity up until they were occupied by the British in the early 20th century. It also says an agreement reached with Sharjah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, gives it the right to administer Abu Musa and station troops there.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-10-04): In 1968, Great Britain announced that it would withdraw from the Gulf region in 1971. In 1971 the island of Abu Musa was divided between Iran and the emirate of Sharjah in a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU provided for joint administration on the islands and a division of resources. On November 30, Iran sent military forces to Abu Musa in accordance with the MoU, however Iran also took control of the two nearby Tunb islands. Iran has occupied them ever since. [...] Iran's claims to possession and control of the islands goes back to centuries BC until the advent of British imperial rule. A further Iranian claim is based on the fact that a section of the Arab Qasimi tribe which ruled the Tunbs and Abu Musa between 1872 and 1887, became Persian subjects before their administration of the islands. Iran further held that the emirate of Sharjah, who administers the island Abu Musa, and the emirate sheik of Ras al Khaimah, who administers the Tunbs, could not legally occupy the islands, as Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah were not a state and therefore could not acquire territory under international law (in december 1971 the six emirates under which Sharjah declared their independence from Bitain and called themselves the United Arab Emirates, Ras al Khaimah joined the UAE in February 1972).
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2008-09-08): Last month, Tehran announced it was building maritime offices on the Persian Gulf island of Abu Musa, reigniting the long-standing territorial dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since 1970, the disagreement over the island and the neighboring Greater and Lesser Tunbs has been mired in legal uncertainty and historical claims and counterclaims, hindering diplomatic relations between Iran and the Gulf Arab states. The recent diplomatic intensity surrounding the issue, however, including the UAE's August 21 formal protest to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, is a significant break from the past, and may be a forerunner to a future escalation. Considering the importance of the islands -- all three are strategically located near the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world's oil passes daily -- the dispute's outcome is deeply tied to the interests of the United States and the international community.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-03-29): Brachyuran crabs from Abu-Musa Island, Iran, Persian Gulf have been collected and examined for a biodiversity project conducted during 2014 and 2015. The material was mostly collected from the intertidal and shallow subtidal using hand and snorkeling. [...] MATERIAL EXAMINED: 1♂ (ZUTC 5483), CL = 34.88, CB = 56.21, Park-Qadir, Abu-Musa Island, Persian Gulf, 25° 53.751′N, 055° 02.643′E, rocky/cobble, taken by snorkeling, coll. S. Ebrahimnezhad & R. Abdollahi, 25.12.2014. [...] This paper is part of the project "Biodiversity of the Intertidal region of Abu-Musa Island in the Persian Gulf". The project is funded by Iran National Science Foundation (INSF), which is highly appreciated. Special thanks are due to Rashed Abdollahi for his kindly help in the field works and taking the photos.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-14): The decades-long dispute is over the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa – three islands in the Strait of Hormuz that have been governed by Iran since 1971 and are claimed by the UAE as part of its territory.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-07-11): Iran was quick to leverage political openings to annex unprotected strategic territories. In late 1971, as the British formally dissolved their longstanding protectorate in the Persian Gulf, Iranian forces snatched three strategic islands from a fledgling United Arab Emirates, invading just before UAE even managed to formally declare itself as an independent state. The small Iranian-occupied islands, known as Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, straddle the channels approaching the Strait of Hormuz, and, as such, are some of the most strategically interesting pieces of real estate in the Persian Gulf. The islands have been militarized, and each sport small-boat harbors, airstrips and, presumably, a full suite of missiles, radars and other surveillance gear. [...] Articulating a firm "use them and lose them" doctrine for Iran's island bases and militarized sea features offers the international community a framework to respond in a limited but consequential fashion to chronic Iranian adventurism. Blockading and taking Farsi Island, a piece of fortified sand eighty times smaller than Iwo Jima, can be done. Re-establishing UAE sovereignty over Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and expelling Iran from dual-use military and maritime petrochemical production sites are achievable options as well.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of Iran (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-17): Iranian officials have for months discussed plans to increase the number of Iranian residents on the Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb islands, which lie at the heart of a decades-long dispute with Iran’s southern neighbour the UAE. [...] Abu Musa is located approximately 75km (46 miles) from the Iranian mainland and, along with other islands near it, is considered crucial to the country’s maritime defence on the busy Strait of Hormuz where both oil tankers and warships pass. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian army have a presence on Abu Musa and the other islands, but there is no publicly available information on the exact extent.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-24): UAE claim [edit]The UAE took its sovereignty claim over Abu Musa and the two Tunb islands to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council of 9 December 1971. At that meeting, it was decided to "defer consideration of this matter to a later date".[20][21] Iraq (Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr era),[22] Kuwait,[23] Algeria,[24] South Yemen[24] and Libya[24] held the view that the territory rightfully belongs to the UAE.[25][26][27][28][29] Since that time, the UAE has consistently called in public statements[21][30] for either bilateral negotiations or by referring the issue to the International Court of Justice (or another form of international arbitration).[31]
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-06-17): Barely four kilometres in diameter, if it could be overlain onto Abu Dhabi the island of Abu Musa would fit comfortably between the Corniche and 15th Street. Yet over the past 37 years this remote outpost of the UAE, just 60 kilometres off the coast of Umm al Qaiwain, has attained a significance out of all proportion to its size, thanks to its symbolic location as a potential cork in the bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit of 20 per cent of the world's oil. [...] According to Globalsecurity.org, by March 1995 the island was garrisoned by troops of the IRGC, which remains the occupying force. That same month, William Perry, the US Secretary of Defence, said Iran had installed Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missiles on the island. If true, the missiles, with a range of some 75 kilometres, pose a threat to all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz: Abu Musa is 70km from the Iranian mainland and 60km from the UAE shoreline. [...] In this light, Abu Musa is more than just a few square kilometres of land that should rightfully be returned to the UAE. It is a symbol of the growing tensions that threaten the stability of the Gulf and a reminder of the risks to the region of precipitous action, by or against Iran. hnaylor@thenational.ae jgornall@thenational.ae
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-17): Iranian officials have for months discussed plans to increase the number of Iranian residents on the Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb islands, which lie at the heart of a decades-long dispute with Iran’s southern neighbour the UAE. [...] Abu Musa, which is the largest of the three disputed islands, has a total area of about 25sq km (9.6sq miles), according to local media, with an estimated 520,000 residential plots to be marked out and allocated to eligible applicants. [...] Abu Musa is located approximately 75km (46 miles) from the Iranian mainland and, along with other islands near it, is considered crucial to the country’s maritime defence on the busy Strait of Hormuz where both oil tankers and warships pass.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-01-01): The MOU Related to Abu Musa, the Seizure of the Tunbs by Iran on 30 November 1971 and Subsequent Events up to the Present [...] In The Iran-UAE Gulf Islands Dispute , Charles Buderi and Luciana Ricart take the reader on a journey through centuries of Gulf history and evolving principles of international law on territorial disputes to reach conclusions over the rightful sovereign of three Gulf islands - Abu Musa and the Tunbs - claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Drawing on a wide range of scholarly works and archival documents from sources as diverse as the Dutch East India Company, the Ottoman Empire and the British Government, Buderi and Ricart analyze historical events from antiquity up to modern times. Ultimately, the authors reach conclusions on the ownership of the islands under international law which challenge the positions of both parties.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-10-15): A senior official of the United Arab Emirates has called on Iran to end its "occupation" of the three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb, the Arab press reported. Marwan Ahmad bin Ghalaita, the first voice president of UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC), said the UAE has a firm position on the three disputed islands and will not abandon its claim over them. He stressed that the dispute can either be resolved through negotiations between Iran and UAE or Abu Dhabi will report the case to the International Court of Justice for arbitration. He also called on the Arab League to take a more serious stance on ending "Iranian occupation" over the three islands, which he said solely belongs to the UAE. [...] Comment: The long-standing, yet low-intensity, dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the ownership of the three islands predates the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It was under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s reign that Iran exploited the withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf and captured the islands on November 30, 1971 – just a day before the UAE gained independence from Britain. Prior to that, the islands were ruled by Sharjah, now one of UAE’s seven emirates. Under a 1971 agreement with Britain, the Shah government was permitted to have a military garrison on Abu Musa, while civil administration of the island was divided between Iran and the UAE after the latter’s independence in December of that year.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-04-23): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the small island of Abu Musa near the Strait of Hormuz on in mid-April sparked a furious response from the United Arab Emirates, which disputes Tehran's claim to sovereignty over the island. [...] The row is the latest flare-up in a long-standing territorial dispute between Iran and the UAE over the islands of Abu Musa and the nearby Greater and Lesser Tunbs. [...] However, the UAE, which won its independence in 1971, claims sovereignty over the islands, too. Prior to Iran taking control of them, the islands were administered by shaykhdoms which later became part of the UAE. A 1971 agreement between Iran and the shaykhdom of Sharjah provided for the two sides to administer different parts of Abu Musa while leaving the issue of sovereignty open.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-09): Officials in Tehran maintain that the islands belonged to successive Persian empires, while their Emirati counterparts claim that Arab traders ruled Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa for centuries before the British arrived. The three islands themselves are barren. Greater and Lesser Tunbs are uninhabited, while Abu Musa is home to approximately 2,000 permanent civilian residents. In 1972, there were 800 natives on Abu Musa, mostly Arabs descended from the Qasimi tribe, though "a few unskilled Iranian laborers arrived" after Iran seized it. Abu Musa’s Emirati residents have complained that Iran’s government has altered the island’s demographics by moving in Iranian "settlers" to the point where Iranians now far outnumber Emirati citizens and expatriates on Abu Musa. Media outlets in the UAE have reported that Iranian authorities in Abu Musa routinely harass Emiratis and expatriates on the island to try to pressure them into leaving. The islands are also strategically valuable to both sides due to their location near the Strait of Hormuz. Whichever country controls Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa can dominate the sea lanes coming in and out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used Abu Musa to mount attacks during the "Tanker War" (1984-88).
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-12-24): Iran took control of the three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb after British forces withdrew in 1971. It considers them an "inseparable" part of its territory. The UAE also claims the three islands and has long pressed for a negotiated solution. [...] Iran says the islands have been part of Persian states from antiquity up until they were occupied by the British in the early 20th century. It also says an agreement reached with Sharjah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, gives it the right to administer Abu Musa and station troops there.
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-01): Although not as well covered by the media as other disputes over island territories, the conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates concerning the sovereignty over the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa is one of the most crucial current unresolved territorial questions. [...] Hilal Al-Kaabi M (1994) The question of Iranian occupation of the Islands, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa Belonging to the United Arab Emirates,17 May 1994, US Army War College, www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA280066. Accessed 25 Oct 2015 [...] Mattair TR (2005) The three occupied UAE Islands, The Tunbs and Abu Musa. The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi
Claim: Abu Musa is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Abu Musa, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-02): Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval exercise started Wednesday morning for the defence of the Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf," the official IRNA news agency reported, citing IRGC navy commander Ali Ozmaee as saying that the drills "were held in Abu Musa island and Greater and Lesser Tunb". The barren islands contain little in the way of natural resources. Of the three, only Abu Musa has a civilian population, which numbers around 2,000 people. But the three islands sit near the Strait of Hormuz, the vital sea passage between the Gulf and the open ocean through which around 20 percent of the world's oil, and around 25 percent of the world's liquified natural gas, pass through. [...] For nearly twenty years, the UAE and Iran maintained an uneasy interim agreement which led to both countries sharing Abu Musa's offshore oil revenues. However, after talks collapsed to settle the dispute in 1992, Iran began cementing its military presence on the islands.