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A Tiny Island Is Where Iran Makes a Stand

(New York Times) Thomas Erdbrink - For many Iranians, a renewed claim by the United Arab Emirates to the tiny island of Abu Musa, a four-square-mile spit of sand in the Persian Gulf with about 2,000 inhabitants, arouses strong nationalistic feelings at a time of general hopelessness over the devastating impact of a grinding economy, foreign sanctions and a feeling of unprecedented isolation. Ahmadinejad's visit to Abu Musa last month prompted angry reactions from Arab states on the western shore of the Persian Gulf, which rejected his assertion that the island is occupied by Iran. According to a 1971 memorandum of understanding between Iran and the emirate of Sharjah, the island and its energy resources are to be divided between the two. By agreeing to the pact, the tiny emirate prevented an invasion by Iran, which two days earlier had taken two other disputed islands, Greater and Lesser Tunb, which were even smaller and uninhabited.
2012-05-02 00:00:00
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