copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-04-02): ABU DHABI — History stands witness to the fact that Abu Mousa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs islands are part of the UAE territories, a foreign historian-cum-diplomat has asserted. The islands should really have belonged to Ras Al Khaimah as the emirate had the strongest claim over the islands since it had controlled them with the help of the British between 1870 and 1900, Julian Walker, a British historian known for his diplomatic missions in the Gulf region, told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview yesterday on the sidelines of the conference on ‘Bedouin Society in the Emirates' here. Stating that history documents the three islands as belonging to the country, Walker said: "The protection of the islands was vested with Ras Al Khaimah until the withdrawal of the British forces in 1971. The Shah of Iran has been claiming the Islands. He abandoned his claim to Bahrain and had reached an agreement with the Ruler of Sharjah over Abu Mousa. [...] He said the day before the British officially ended their protection, the Shah sent his navy and seized the islands. A small police post of the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah on the Tunbs islands resisted the Shah's forces for four hours. "That was how the islands were seized by the Iranians," he said, adding that the Shah could achieve victory only because of the large naval force and the villagers fleeing to Ras Al Khaimah since they didn't want to be under Iranian rule.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-01): The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa [...] One point of contention that has persisted over time is the dispute over the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran. The dispute...
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-27): Syria supported a declaration at the Arab League summit in Bahrain this month promoting "the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands" in the Gulf, referring to Abu Musa, Lesser Tunb, and Greater Tunb. Iran claims and has controlled these islands since 1971, seizing them as the United Kingdom withdrew from the area and the UAE declared independence. [...] Syria has extended recognition to Russia’s universally unpopular and unrecognised territorial claims to the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine and South Ossetia in Georgia. However, recognising Iran’s claim to Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs would prove much more politically complicated for Damascus.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-12): Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb [edit]In 1971, after the British left the area Iranian forces claimed the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf between Iran and the UAE. The Iranians asserted their claims to the islands. Iran continued to hold the islands in 1993, and its action remained a source of contention with the UAE, which claimed authority by virtue of Britain's transfer of the islands to the emirates of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah. However, Britain had also agreed to give full authority to the Iranians in return for Iran's withdrawal of its claim on Bahrain. By late 1992, Sharjah and Iran had reached agreement with regard to Abu Musa, but Ras al-Khaimah had not reached a settlement with Iran concerning Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb.[1] The UAE have attempted to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice,[2] but Iran refused. Tehran says the islands always belonged to it as it had never renounced possession of the islands, and that they are part of Iranian territory.[3] [...] References [edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h "Territorial Disputes." United Arab Emirates country study. Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division (January 1993). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-13): The Greater Tunb, The Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa Island - 13 Jun 2024 - 1 min read Recently, Iran called in China's ambassador to lodge a protest over a joint statement made by China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regarding the sovereignty of the Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb islands. [...] - According to the UAE, the islands belonged to the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah until Iran allegedly seized them by force just days before the formation of the Emirati Federation in 1971 before UAE’s independence from Britain.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-09): Against the backdrop of the UAE beginning its cautious outreach to Iran in 2019 and then sending its ambassador back to Tehran a year ago, exacerbated tensions over these islands — Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa — will likely complicate the Emirati-Iranian rapprochement and regional diplomacy. However, the parties appear disposed to prevent this tension from spiraling out of control. Both countries want to maintain stability in the Persian Gulf. [...] 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. [...] 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: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 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. The critical importance of the Greater and Lesser Tunbs due to their location in the Persian/Arabian Gulf and close to the Strait of Hormuz on the one hand and the historical ambiguities and uncertainties surrounding the islands on the other make the legal assessment of the ownership question over the islands particularly challenging. [...] 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
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-12-03): Examining the long-running territorial dispute between the UAE and Iran, a new book analyses its roots and suggests a way forward For over forty years, the dispute over the three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb has been a sore in relations between the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Initially occupied by Iran in 1971 during the time of the Shah and the formation of the UAE, the islands are a useful study of a seemingly intractable territorial dispute between a small set of city states and a regional hegemon. For the UAE, careful management of the dispute is crucial to neither exasperate conditions and provoke Iran into a more forceful response, possibly targeted at the UAE mainland, nor to give Iran leave to argue that the UAE has dropped its ‘misunderstood’ claims to the islands. Long-term management rather than short- term resolution appears to be the best course of action.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-29): The seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by the Imperial Iranian Navy took place on 30 November 1971, shortly after the withdrawal of British forces from the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, all located in the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.[1] The Imperial State of Iran had claimed sovereignty over both sets of islands, while the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah claimed the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and the Emirate of Sharjah claimed Abu Musa. [...] At 5:30 pm on 29 November 1971, a contingent of the Iranian army supported by Imperial Iranian Navy forces invaded the Lesser and Greater Tunbs.[7] In the Tunbs, the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, who did not have a signed agreement with Iran, resisted the Iranian troops.[8] On Greater Tunb, the Iranians ordered the six policemen stationed there to lower the flag. Salem Suhail bin Khamis, the head policeman, refused to comply and was shot and killed.[citation needed][9] Policemen in Greater Tunb clashed with the Iranian troops and in the ensuing skirmish four Ras Al Khaimah policemen and three Iranian soldiers were killed. The Iranian troops then demolished the police station, the school, and a number of houses, and forced the natives to leave the island.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-09-29): It always sought to enhance peace and security and promote respect for the United Nations Charter. He said the United Arab Emirates had always shown such respect, including for sovereignty and territorial integrity when dealing with the occupation by Iran of the three United Arab Emirates islands of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Since the illegitimate occupation of those islands, his Government had adopted a flexible diplomatic approach to resolving that matter through peaceful means, including direct negotiations or referring the situation to the International Court of Justice. [...] The representative of the United Arab Emirates, responding to the Iranian representative’s statement, said the latter had made illegal allegations to the Assembly about Iran’s occupation of the three islands that in fact belonged to the United Arab Emirates — Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa. The United Arab Emirates had repeatedly made its position well known. He expressed his "severe disappointment" over Iran’s repeated allegations every year in the Assembly. Iran’s position was in contravention to all facts, documents and history, which proved that the three islands were an integral part of the United Arab Emirates. They were part of the United Arab Emirates’ air space and exclusive economic zone.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-04-17): The United States reiterates its support for a peaceful resolution between the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb islands. The United States appreciates the UAE’s efforts in this regard and urges Iran to respond positively to the UAE’s initiative to resolve the issue through direct negotiations, the International Court of Justice or another appropriate international forum. Actions such as the April 11 visit by Iranian President Ahmadinejad to the Abu Musa Island only complicate efforts to settle the issue.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-07): The UAE and Iran remain at odds over Iranian control of the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. That said, the UAE and Iran remain at odds over Iranian control of three small islands (Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs) off the UAE coast that were seized by the Shah of Iran in 1971 as the United Kingdom was withdrawing from the Gulf. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic Republic staunchly maintained that the islands were Iranian territory, even enhancing its military presence and conducting military drills there. Although the UAE has bolstered its military capabilities in recent decades (former Secretary of Defense James Mattis referred to it as "Little Sparta" in 2011 when he was CENTCOM Commander), it clearly does not want a military confrontation with its much larger neighbor across the Gulf. [...] The UAE fears that attacks on its territory would adversely affect its massive economic development projects.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 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. There is no such agreement on the other two islands. The UAE says they belonged to the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah until Iran seized them by force days before the Emirati federation was formed.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-01): Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb Question concerning the islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb In 1971, several Arab States brought to the Security Council’s attention the alleged occupation of the islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb by Iran, which they considered to be part of the territory of the United Arab Emirates.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-30): The UAE has laid claim to three small islands in the Persian Gulf that Iran took control of in 1971 after the United Kingdom withdrew from the Persian Gulf and the UAE was formed. Other Arab states formally support the territorial claim. [...] 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: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 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," the Emirati speaker explained. "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." "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." [...] The three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb are all relatively small and reside in the Persian Gulf.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-13): The uneasy detente between Iran and its Arab neighbors is not only threatened by the state of Iranian-U.S. relations but also by dormant territorial disputes. These include disputes over the Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa islands claimed by the United Arab Emirates and oil and gas fields that Iran shares with neighboring countries – which Iran has not developed due to the international sanctions regime and restricted access to technology. Should the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its engineering arm, Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters, engage in developing the fields, Iran and its Arab neighbors may find themselves entangled in renewed crises. [...] - "Once again, the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council repeated its baseless claims regarding the three Iranian islands by declaring them a part of the United Arab Emirates and by referring to the council’s previous statements on Iran allegedly occupying the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Bou-Musa islands … The statement further repeated claims concerning the Arash oil and gas field and asserted: ‘the Dorra field lies entirely within the maritime areas of the State of Kuwait, stating that the ownership of natural resources in the divided submerged area are adjacent to the Saudi-Kuwaiti divided area …’ The Islamic Republic of Iran justly considers any claim on the three islands as intervention in internal Iranian affairs and territorial integrity of Iran and strongly condemns them as such. As for the Arash oil and gas field, from Tehran’s viewpoint, repetitive statements and unilateral claims have no legal value and do not prove the Kuwaiti party’s claims."
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-01): The United Arab Emirates has consistently and forcefully protested Iran’s illegal occupation of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the moment Iranian military forces occupied the three islands on 30 November 1971, just two days before the establishment of the UAE.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2008-09-08): Since 1971, the dispute has been a key element of UAE diplomacy in Arab forums and in the international community, serving to bind the country's disparate federation whose members, though notionally equal, vary widely in terms of oil wealth. Abu Musa is claimed by Sharjah, the third largest member of the UAE after Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The other two mainly uninhabited islands of Greater and Lesser Tunb are claimed by Ras al-Khaimah, another emirate in the seven-member union. On November 13, 1971, the ruler of Sharjah reluctantly accepted an interim deal with Iran, which led to the sharing of the Abu Musa's offshore oil revenues. While both sides continued to claim full sovereignty, Iran changed the status quo in 1992 by restricting UAE access and dramatically increasing Iranian presence on the islands, including military. Although the UAE and Iran have partially agreed on a continental-shelf boundary between the two countries, the agreement does not include the area around the islands.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2011-09-26): "The actions taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran with the aim of changing the legal, physical and demographic situation of the islands are null and void and have no legal effect whatsoever," he said, referring to Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs islands. "Those Iranian actions also constitute a violation of international law, and the UN Charter. Therefore, the UAE demands of the Islamic Republic of Iran to enter into serious and direct negotiations between the two countries, or to refer the issue to the International Court of Justice in the light of its continuous illegal occupation of the three islands which are an integral part of the territorial sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates." [...] The territorial dispute was also the subject of a discussion today between the Emirati Foreign Minister and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The two officials also exchanged views on the latest developments in Syria, Yemen and Somalia.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-10-04): Last week, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, renewed his country’s demand for the restoration of sovereignty over three islands in the Persian Gulf region. "My Government expresses, once again, its regret regarding the continued Iranian occupation of our three islands – Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, and demands the restoration of the UAE’s full sovereignty over these islands. We, therefore, call upon the international community to urge Iran to respond to the repeated peaceful, sincere calls of the United Arab Emirates for a just settlement of this issue, either through direct, serious negotiations or by referral to the International Court of Justice", he stated. Responding to the statement by the UAE, Iran’s representative reiterated his country’s full sovereignty over the islands and categorically rejected any claims to the contrary. Abu Musa, Greater Tunbs and Lesser Tunbs are three small islands located along the mid-point of the Persian Gulf near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in a potentially oil-rich area. The main shipping and tanker channel in and out of the Persian Gulf lies between Abu Musa and the Iranian-controlled islands of Greater and Lesser Tonbs.
Claim: Greater and Lesser Tunbs is a territory of United Arab Emirates (Greater and Lesser Tunbs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-10-11): He went on to reiterate Morocco’s commitment to a political process, conducted exclusively under the auspices of the United Nations, that hinges on Morocco’s autonomy initiative and is within the context of Morocco’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In conclusion, he expressed his country’s support for the territorial integrity of the United Arab Emirates and called for an end to Iran’s occupation of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. [...] The representative of Iran rejected Morocco’s remarks about Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf, asserting that they amounted to a blatant interference in Iran’s domestic affairs. He emphasized Iran’s sovereignty over these islands and underscored that all decisions and measures taken by Iranian officials concerning these islands have consistently been grounded in principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. [...] The representative of the United Arab Emirates reiterated that Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs are an integral part of her country’s territory, based on well-established historical facts which are not in dispute. She called on Iran to seek a peaceful resolution to this matter in accordance with international law and the UN Charter through either bilateral negotiations or by referring the matter to the International Court of Justice.