Abstract:
Throughout history, the Islands of “Tunb” and “Abu-Musa” have been parts of Iranian territory. In fact, since the beginning of history up to the 19th century, the Persian Gulf coastal areas and the islands have been under Iran’s sovereignty. During this long period of history, the Persian Gulf was one of the internal seas of Iran. Even after the 19th century when the British government dominated the Persian Gulf, the evidence held by this government substantiates that these islands belong to Iran. At the outset of 20th century, the illegal occupation of the islands by the British government did not engender sovereignty to the detriment of Iran and in favour of the United Arab Emirates because this occupation was not free of interruption, discordance or objection. Also, the British reasons for the illegal occupation of the islands were legally spurious; accordingly, the British government had no choice but to opt for the word “disputed” to legally refer to the Tunb and Abu-Musa Islands. Ultimately, as the colonialism came to an end in 1971, the islands returned to their previous state, with Iranian sovereignty being exercised upon them again. The main question of the present paper is whether Iran’s rights concerning these two islands have been fully restored after the end of colonialism. The main hypothesis of the paper is that, due to the imbalance of power structure between Iran and Britain, the Iranian government has had no choice but to back off from its previous positions, ignoring the Iranian national interests. The findings of the article show that Iran had adopted conciliatory stances, that is, it had relinquished its own rights to Bahrain, and immediately recognised the UAE Federation — what Saudi Arabia did three years later after having invaded parts of the UAE. In order to maintain its own sovereignty over Abu-Musa Island, the Iranian government had also conceded financial and economic privileges to Sharjah.
Machine summary:
"As discussed earlier, the British Government’s official documents verify this claim; 2) The Ghassemi governors of Lengeh have been nationals and agents loyal to the Iranian Government; they administered the Tunb and Abu-Musa Islands on behalf of Iran; 3) Throughout the 19th century, there is no record indicating the joint ownership of the Tunb and Abu-Musa Islands by Ghassemis; 4) The Ghassemi sheiks of Lengeh have a socio-political structure totally different from that of Ghassemis living on the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf.
In addition, Britain, then a dominant power in the Persian Gulf, as well as the British government of India have named the Tunb and Abu-Musa Islands as a part of Iran in their official reports, correspondences, maps and journals.
These maps include: 1) The marine map of the Persian Gulf dated 1786; 2) The map of Iranian Empire drawn by John McDonald Kintyre, the political advisor to Sir john Malcolm dated 1813; 3) The coloured map of the Persian Gulf prepared by Captain Brooks, representative of the East Indian Company, dated 1830; 4) The Persian Gulf map drawn by Col. Robert Taylor the political representative of Britain in the Persian Gulf, dated 1836; 5) The map of the Central Asia by Major Alex Burns dated 1834; 6) The lines drawn by Captain Henle and Captain Morris in 1835 and 1836 in order to prevent piracy within Iranian waters; based on these lines, the Tunb and Abu-Musa Islands are within the Iranian territory; 7) The map prepared by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency in 1863, reprinted in 1876, 1890 and 1912; 8) The Persian Gulf political map drawn by Captain Saint John, by order of the minister for Indian affairs, dated 1876; 9) The map prepared by the British Naval Force in 1881; 10) Map of Iran prepared by the British Ministry of Defence in 1886; 11) Map of Iran prepared under the supervision of Lord Curzon vicegerent of India in 1891, reprinted in 1898; and, 12) Iran’s official map prepared by the British Ministry for Indian Affairs in 1897."