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The six states - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates - also condemned Iran's "continued occupation of the three Emirati islands" of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, which lie in the strategic Strait of Hormuz entrance to the Gulf.
"The council expressed its rejection and condemnation of the continuing Iranian interference in the affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council's states and called on Iran to stop these policies," a joint statement issued at the end of the summit said on Tuesday.
The council said they "reject and denounce" Iran's "continued interference" in their internal affairs that increase regional tension and threaten security and stability.
The GCC leaders expressed "deep sadness over the continued shedding of blood by the regime and the destruction of cities and infrastructure, making political transition a demand which must be rapidly implemented".
Quds Force Blacklisted
The Iranian foreign ministry responded on Monday, saying that Canada was "using the issue of terrorism as a tool and violating its international commitments".
The MEK had a long history of violent attacks against both western and Iranian targets dating from the 1970s until 1992, when it stormed Iranian diplomatic missions in the US, Britain, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and France.
It gave up armed conflict in 1993 and has since been described as an "opposition movement in exile", saying it now works to overthrow the Iranian administration through peaceful means.
Iran desired a referendum sponsored by the UN in Bahrain so that the entire population would be able to vote on the future of the tiny Persian Gulf state, but the British refused and in turn suggested a method by which a British officer would give his report on the general inclinations of Bahrain's population after a general review. Since the majority of Bahrainis are Shiite, the British were not willing to put the future of Bahrain which is strategically important in the hands of the whole population. Due to this fact, the Bahrain issue was never really settled as some argue the UN sponsored report which was prepared by a British officer did not illustrate the true aspirations of the Bahrainis at the time and the role Britain played in this scenario had a major effect on the independence of the Persian Gulf state. en.wikipedia.org...
The sovereignty of the Iranian government over Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa islands was enforced before they were occupied by the British forces in 1903. Even some British officials like Sir Denis Wright, the prominent British diplomat and London’s ambassador to Tehran, have owned up to this fact.
Britain’s announcement that it was leaving the Persian Gulf in 1968 was followed by three years of intense negotiations between Iranian and British officials in Tehran and London. During the talks, the British officials not only explicitly supported Sharjah, but also put tremendous pressure on the Iranian government to make it give concessions, including by giving up its historical claim to Bahrain. Following negotiations, an agreement and its appendices were signed between the two sides in 1971 according to which the three islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa returned to Iran's sovereignty on November 30, 1971 and this was an end to long occupation of this part of the Iranian territory by the British forces. Thereafter, Iran has exercised its full sovereign powers in political, economic and security areas on the three islands. Meanwhile, administrative arrangements in Abu Musa Island have been shaped on the basis of 1971 agreement and its appendices and have continued so far. www.iranreview.org...