Dhabi, Jumada I 23, 1433, Apr 15, 2012, SPA -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met here today with ambassadors of permanent member states in the UN Security Council. During the meeting, Al Nahyan reiterated the denunciation of his country of the provocative visit by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to Abu-Musa island, an Iran-occupied UAE territory. He emphasized that the visit is a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the UAE over the three islands of Greater Tomb, Smaller Tom and Abu-Musa. He expressed the UAE disappointment over the Iranian behavior which came contradictory to an agreement between the two countries that this dispute should be solved through bilateral negotiations, a position urging the UAE to work for trying to create the appropriate atmosphere to make the diplomatic efforts in this regard a success, citing the temporary halt of raising this issue in the regional and international platforms prior to a forthcoming negotiation round. However, this move came to prove that Iran is not serious in this endeavor. The Minister added that the Iranian President's visit to the island, instead, further deepened the no-confidence between Iran and its neighbors in the region. He said that the UAE is committed to proceed with demanding its sovereign rights through peaceful options and within the international law framework. He explained that the UAE would go ahead with its policy of calling for bilateral negotiations or resort to the International Justice Tribunal to get its rights enforced. He demanded the permanent member countries in the UN Security Council to provide support for the UAE fair position, based on the friendship and cooperation current relations between the UAE on one hand and the Security Council permanent members on the other, noting that UAE's would keep their governments informed of any further steps it might take.
