The Islamic Republic of Iran today, confirmed that it seized a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-registered ship on Monday, August 17, 2020, for violating its territorial waters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran said that the boat was seized after UAE coastguard vessels opened fire on several Iranian fishing boats, leading to the deaths of 2 fishermen.
A statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran read, “On Monday, an Emirati ship was seized by the border guards of Iran and its crew were detained due to illegal traffic in our country’s waters.”
It further read, “On the same day, UAE guards shot dead two Iranian fishermen and seized a boat… The UAE has expressed regret for the incident and in a letter on Wednesday announced its readiness to pay compensation.”
The official news agency of UAE, WAM reported on Monday the Gulf State’s coastguard tried to stop 8 fishing boats that violated its territorial waters northwest of Sir Bu Nu’Ayr island, without reporting any casualties.
This comes at a time when there have been disagreements after UAE said it has signed a deal to normalise ties with Israel. The deal was brokered by United States (U.S.). The move has been condemned by Iran.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi – Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who serves as the UAE’s day-to-day ruler, has warned that Israel may strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal, which was meant to contain Iran’s nuclear programme, is already abandoned. The JCPOA deal was signed on July 14, 2015 in Vienna. The members to the deal included Iran, the P5+1 (the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, U.K., U.S. – plus Germany) and European Union (E.U.). It stated that Iran will eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about 2/3rd the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. For the next 15 years, Iran
would only enrich uranium up to 3.67%.
In recent decades, there have been tensions between Iran and UAE over the 3 islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf. Both UAE and Iran have maintained that they are trying to find a solution to this issue according to the rules of international law.
UAE challenges Iran’s sovereignty over Lesser Tunb and Greater Tunb, while Iran considers them as its inseparable parts. The islands have been in Iran’s control since November 1971, following the departure of British forces from the Persian Gulf, and a few days before UAE’s declaration of independence in December 1971.
Besides, UAE has also challenged Iran’s sovereignty over Abu Musa. As far as history of Abu Musa is concerned, Britain transferred the administration of the island to the British-appointed Sharjah sheikhdom in 1960s, one of the seven sheikdoms that would later form the UAE. On November 30, 1971 (two days before the official establishment of UAE), Iran and Sharjah signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly administer a part of the island based on a map annexed to the memorandum, allowing Iran to station military forces and the Sharjah sheikhdom to maintain a limited number of police in the island.
However, Iran has taken steps to exert unilateral control since 1992, including access restrictions and a military build-up on the island, as well as expelling the foreign workers who operated the UAE-sponsored school, medical clinic, and power-generating station. Iran has also criticized the UAE for allowing France to develop its first permanent base in the Persian Gulf. It also considers the UAE’s permission for stationing the western powers’ military forces in the region as a threat to its national security.
On November 28, 2013, the Foreign Minister of the UAE visited Iran. In late July 2019, an Emirati delegation of coast guard commanders met with their Iranian counterparts in Tehran for the first time in 6 years, to improve maritime co-operation in the Strait of Hormuz.
