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Source: http://washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2927
The Persian Gulf's "Occupied Territory": The Three-Island Dispute
[Washington Institute for Near East Policy] Simon Henderson - Last month, Tehran announced it was building maritime offices on the Persian Gulf island of Abu Musa, reigniting the long-standing territorial dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The island and the neighboring Greater and Lesser Tunbs are all strategically located near the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world's oil passes daily. On November 30, 1971, Iran, under the Shah, occupied the islands a day before the UAE's independence from Britain. There is a widespread belief in the region that Britain allowed Iran's takeover as a quid pro quo for Tehran abandoning its claim to the island state of Bahrain. Senior U.S. officials supported Iran's 1971 seizure because it filled the regional security vacuum caused by the British withdrawal. The writer is director of the Gulf and Energy Policy program at the Washington Institute.