WASHINGTON-Iranian Foreign Ministry officials summoned Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua in Tehran on Saturday (December 10) to express "strong dissatisfaction" to China over a joint statement issued by China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Cooperation and Development Summit concerning three disputed islands between the UAE and Iran.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council held a summit in Riyadh on Friday during a visit to Iran's arch-rival Saudi Arabia to discuss cooperation and development and issued a joint statement after the meeting.
In addition to indicating China's willingness and plans to strengthen cooperation with Gulf Arab states, the joint statement also touched on a range of issues involving Iran, including Iran's nuclear program and Iran's behavior in the region.
But what most upset Tehran and led to the Iranian authorities' rare summoning of the Chinese ambassador to Tehran was the joint statement that talked about three islands disputed by Iran and the UAE in the Strait of Holmes – the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
"The two leaders stressed their support for all peace efforts, including the initiatives and efforts of the United Arab Emirates aimed at conducting bilateral negotiations in accordance with the norms of international law for a peaceful settlement of the Three-Islands issue, with a view to resolving the issue in accordance with international legitimacy," Article 12 of the joint statement between China and GCC countries states.
When British troops withdrew from the Middle East in 1971, they also withdrew from territory that is now the United Arab Emirates, including the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa Islands in the Strait of Horms. As soon as the British army left, Iran's then Shah Pahlavi immediately sent the Iranian Royal Navy to occupy the three islands in the Strait of Holmes, which Iran has actually occupied to this day.
Since then, UAE leaders have stressed that the three islands belong to the UAE and that the UAE's claim is supported by other Arab countries, but Iran has rejected the UAE's claim to sovereignty over the three islands and has refused to hold negotiations or dialogue.
Although the joint statement signed by Xi Jinping and the leaders of the Gulf countries did not name Iran, it called for bilateral negotiations in accordance with the norms of international law and resolved the problem in accordance with international legitimacy, which actually formed a sharp opposition to Iran's refusal to negotiate.
However, because Iran and China also have very close relations, the Iranian Foreign Ministry did not publicly announce the "summoning" of the Chinese ambassador to express "protest" or "condemnation" as it did with Western countries but announced that the Chinese ambassador had "visited" a Foreign Ministry official, and the Iranian side expressed "strong dissatisfaction" to the Chinese side.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a Twitter post that the islands were "an integral part of Iran's pure territory" and that Tehran would not hesitate to defend its territorial integrity.
However, Iranian netizens did not buy Aamir Abdollahian's tweet because he did not name China, and he only tweeted in Farsi. When he previously expressed support for China's territorial integrity, he tweeted in both Persian and Chinese.
China and Iran signed a bilateral cooperation agreement last year that lasted up to 25 years. Amir Abdollahian said earlier this year that the agreement "has entered the implementation phase."
In fact, the joint statement signed by Xi Jinping and Gulf leaders does not only talk about the sovereignty dispute between the UAE and Iran, but also expresses views on Iran's nuclear program and destructive regional activities.
"The two leaders stressed the importance of engaging regional countries in a comprehensive dialogue to address the Iranian nuclear issue, destabilizing regional issues, blocking support for terrorist, sectarian and illegal armed groups, preventing the proliferation of ballistic missiles and drones, securing international shipping lanes and oil facilities, and complying with UN resolutions and international legitimacy," Article 11 of the joint statement said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani issued a statement expressing "surprise" at the provisions of the joint statement regarding Iran.
"Chinese colleagues should remember that when Saudi and U.S.-backed Islamic State terrorists and al-Qaeda in Syria used brutal military aggression to destroy Yemen, it was Iran that stepped in to fight the terrorists and establish stability and security in the region, preventing terrorism from spreading east and west," Mohammad Jamshidi, a political adviser to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, wrote on Twitter from the Persian Gulf.
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