Iran rejects GCC statement on islands, maneuvers
TEHRAN, March 5 (AFP) - Iran on Friday lashed out at the Gulf Cooperation
Council for demanding an end to Tehran's military maneuvers near three
disputed Gulf islands, accusing the GCC of meddling in its internal affairs.
"Under no circumstances should Iran's current foreign policy of
detente, building trust and promoting ties with other countries, particularly
its neighbors, be interpreted as ignoring the legitimate rights of Iran,"
warned foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi.
"The staging of military maneuvers as a means to attain the necessary
preparedness to defend terrtiroial integrity is an internationally recognized
and inalienable right of all countries.
"Iran will not overlook this right," he said, quoted by the
official IRNA news agency.
The GCC on Thursday said the maneuvers, which began last Saturday close
to three strategic and potentially oil-rich islands claimed by both Iran
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were a violation of UAE sovereignty.
The six-nation council demanded Tehran "immediately call a halt
to its provocative acts that threaten the stability and security in the
Arab Gulf, raise extreme concern and do not help build confidence."
The exercises represent a "violation of the UAE's sovereignty and
an attempt by Tehran to secure its occupation of the three islands,"
Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb.
"Iran has transformed the three islands into military zones and
renewed its naval and air maneuvers in UAE territorial waters ... revealing
a contradiction between its acts and words," the group said.
But Asefi dismissed the GCC claims and reiterated that the three islands
are "an inseparable and integral part of the territory of the Islamic
republic of Iran."
He said the GCC should make the UAE understand "the existing reality
and refrain from futile approaches."
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