re news that i missed some articles on the topic rtw gulf arabs demand iran withdrawal from islands eds updates with end of summit details quotes by youssef azmeh abu dhabi dec reuter gulf arab states emerging from a summit that restored their unity after almost three months of crisis piled pressure on iran on wednesday to reverse its virtual annexation of a strategic gulf island they issued a statement after a three day gulf cooperation council summit saying iran had to show proof of its good neighbourly intentions by rescinding measures that rocked gulf stability and security the leaders avoided the anti iranian rhetoric of recent statements by egypt which engineered a last minute settlement of a border row between saudi arabia and qatar that allowed all members to attend the summit egypt said its fears about iranian intentions in the region and tehran s alleged encouragement of moslem fundamentalist unrest were largely behind president hosni mubarak s mediation the gcc statement stressed that developing relations between the gulf arab states and iran is linked to enhacing confidence and to measures iran might take in line with its commitment to the principle of good neighbourliness and the respect of the sovreignty and territorial integrity of the region s states it denounced iran s measures on the island of abu musa which it shares with the united arab emirates and the continued occupation of the greater and lesser tumbs islands iran earlier this year extended its control over abu musa beyond a small garrison it established there in under an agreement with the uae emirate of sharjah it has since rescinded orders expelling foreigners who worked on the island for the uae government but diplomats say it continues to exercise its authority over the whole island which the uae sess as as virtual annexation the tumbs were occupied by the former shah of iran in and the uae has since the abu musa crisis erupted insisted that they have to be returned as part of a general settlement the gcc leaders called on the u n to maintain sanctions against iraq for not fully implementing security council resolutions following its invasion of kuwait they endorsed once again the damascus declaration a pact signed with egypt and syria after their troops took part in the u s led alliance that drove iraqi troops out of kuwait but delegates said the leaders were unable to agree the details of a fund they announced they would create at their last summit in kuwait last year which would have helped egypt s and syria s economic development programme they said the leaders could not agree on a breakdown of contributions from each state although the total amount had been scaled down to billion from the billion agreed last year the fact that the leaders of all gcc states saudi arabia bahrain kuwait oman and qatar attended the summit was seen as a major achievement although their unity was only maintained with outside help most delegations were not too worried for the moment about the slow progress of the conservative rulers discussions on a future security structure for the region that boasts the bulk of global oil and gas reserves the leaders were unable to choose between two proposals one put forward by a summit committee headed by oman s sultan qaboos to create a man rapid deployment force that could rush to defend any member against external aggression such as iraq s invasion of kuwait another was a saudi supported plan to expand the existing man peninsula shield force which had so far played a largely symbolic role and is commanded by a saudi general little headway was made on plans for a reginal common market although the summit called for concrete proposals to be submitted to next year s summit due to be held in saudi arabia next december reuter ya dya djg rtw gulf leaders end summit abu dhabi dec reuter gulf arab states ended a three day annual summit on wednesday with an appeal to iran to end its occupation of three strategic gulf islands as a condition for restoring friendly ties across the gulf a joint statement issued after the summit marked by relief over the settlement of a row between two gulf cooperation council members also called for continued u n sanctions against iraq it said baghdad had failed to implement key security council decisions following the expulsion of its troops from kuwait early last year the summit broke no new ground on steps to achieve a gulf common market but called on officials to present a plan for common external tarrifs for all six members to the next summit which will be held in saudi arabia in december the statement stressed that developing relations between the gulf arab states and iran is linked to enhacing confidence and to measures iran might take in line with its commitment to the principle of good neighbourliness and the respect of the sovreignty and territorial integrity of the region s states it denounced iran s measures on the island of abu musa which it shares with the united arab emirates and the continued occupation of the smaller islands the greater and lesser tumbs it expressed deep regret and extreme concern for the unjustified iranian measures which contradict a proclaimed wish to develop relations and called on iran to rescind those measures and end the occupation which it said was shaking peace and stability in the area iran earlier this year extended its control over abu musa beyond a small garrison it established there in under an agreement with the uae emirate of sharjah it has since rescinded orders expelling foreigners who worked on the island for the uae government but diplomats in the region say that its security forces continue to exercise their authority over the whole island the uae has seen this as virtual annexation the tumbs were occupied by the former shah of iran in and the uae has since the abu musa crisis erupted insisted that they have to be returned as part of a general settlement reuter ya dya djg rtw iran hints it ready to go to war over islands eds updates with snsc statement nicosia dec reuter iran told its gulf arab neighbours on saturday it was ready to defend militarily three disputed islands reminding them of its eight year war with iraq our eight year defence in the iran iraq war has proved to the world that our brave nation will never hesitate to defend the sovereignty and safeguard the territorial integrity of iran iran s supreme national security council snsc said a meeting of the heads of the six nation gulf cooperation council voiced full support on wednesday for the united arab emirates uae in its dispute with iran over the gulf islands of abu musa greater tumb and lesser tumb the move has triggered strong iranian criticism and warnings besides the uae the gcc also groups bahrain kuwait oman qatar and saudi arabia iranian president akbar hashemi rafsanjani who chaired the snsc s meeting on saturday said during his friday prayer sermon at tehran university iran is surely stronger than the likes of you to reach these islands one has to cross a sea of blood the snsc quoted by the official iranian news agency irna received in cyprus also criticised the gcc and described its support of the uae as irresponsible no country will ever be able to covet even an inch of iranian soil said the snsc earlier on saturday the english language tehran times believed to be close to the foreign ministry said the uae should be aware that iran s self restraint had certain limits it dismissed a uae claim to the islands as unfounded and said a agreement to share abu musa with the uae emirate of sharjah still applied the idea of abu dhabi officials that tehran would always refrain from responding to the blows inflicted by them was childish tehran times said irna said the newspaper was commenting on the gcc statement which urged iran to reverse what it says is the annexation of abu musa island and to pull out of the two other islands iran says the islands near the entrance to the gulf have historically belonged to it the dispute flared this year after iran tightened its control over abu musa reuter af jch rtw tehran paper wants iran revive claim to bahrain tehran dec reuter radical iranian newspapers angered by gulf arab claims to three disputed islands are hitting back with demands that tehran revive its claim to bahrain and consider improving ties with iraq president akbar hashemi rafsanjani and senior officials strongly condemned a statement last week by leaders of the gulf cooperation council gcc backing the united arab emirates uae in its dispute with iran over the gulf islands but the newspapers salam and jomhuri eslami demanded that tehran go further than restating its resolve to defend its sovereignty over the islands of abu musa greater tumb and lesser tumb it is not very clear why the sheikh of bahrain has joined the others jomhuri eslami said the gcc groups bahrain kuwait oman qatar saudi arabia and the uae if historical records are to be the criterion the sheikh of bahrain should go about his own business and the rule of iranian people in bahrain which belonged to iran until should be re established the paper said it is fitting for the foreign ministry to raise the question of iran s sovereignty over bahrain and start a serious and effective drive to end the separation of bahrain from iran it added the late shah of iran relinquished iran s claim to bahrain in a year before the island became an independent state iranian leaders since the islamic revolution have carefully avoided raising the bahrain issue although it is occasionally brought up in the press during periods of tension with conservative arab states across the gulf salam newspaper said the gcc stand showed that the policy of appeasing pro western gulf arab rulers had backfired no matter how much you smile at sheikhs on the southern coast of the persian gulf it is the united states and the west which speak the last word it said they the sheikhs are nobody salam said adding that iran should revise its policy towards its neighbours especially its former war enemy iraq disregarding the logical potential of expanding ties with iraq and going along with some saudi backed trends among the iraqi opposition have played a role in the formation of the current situation the paper said ties between iran and iraq which fought a war from to improved briefly after iraq invaded kuwait in but tehran which denounced the invasion and remained neutral in the ensuing war again called for president saddam hussein s overthrow when he suppressed a shi ite moslem revolt which swept southern iraq after his defeat in kuwait reuter sij mz aet
