TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday censured a joint statement released after the third Arab-Japan Political Dialogue Forum in Cairo, calling it a breach of Iran’s territorial integrity. 

In a joint statement released after the forum convened at the foreign minister level at the Arab League on Tuesday, participants called on Iran and the UAE to “reach a peaceful solution through bilateral negotiation as per the provisions of the international law and UN Charter” regarding the ownership of the three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb.

Spokesman Nasser Kanaani slammed the statement for lacking any political and legal value, as well as being in violation of the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs of countries and respect for their territorial integrity.

“The three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb are inseparable and eternal parts of the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” stated the Iranian official.

The United Arab Emirates has been claiming ownership over the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. That’s while the three islands were part of Iran’s soil when the UAE did not even exist as a polity.

Tehran has previously slammed similar statements in regard to the three Iranian islands. “We do not pull any punches with any side over the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran,” said Iran’s foreign minister in July in response to another interventionist statement published after the sixth joint ministerial meeting of the strategic dialogue between the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council states and Russia in Moscow.

The three islands are highly valued for their key strategic location in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) launched military exercises to show its readiness to defend the islands in the early days of August.